No Regrets
by SomethingWeAsiansGot
Summary: "Please..." I mouth finally. I look back into the dark sky. Wait for me Clove... The arrow whistles through the air. ...I'm coming... The Hunger Games from Cato's point of view. He's been friends with Clove for a long time but does he really only think of her as a friend?
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

_I push open the doors to the District 2 training centre and walk in coolly with my training bag slung over one shoulder. "Hey," My training partner, Bristan calls. "Hi" I reply without much enthusiasm. Bristan wasn't a very good training partner. I beat him in everything. I'm the best in District 2 and I know it. No one has even come close to beating me in, say, wrestling. I have them pinned to the ground in less than 2 minutes. "Did you hear about the new girl?" Bristan asks. I shake my head. "Who?" I ask. He beckons to the short, dark haired girl, who was at the knives section. "She doesn't talk to anyone. Cinder tried to make friends but she just shrugged her off." My first thought was, _I am impressed by this girl. _Cinder is the most popular girl in the District. To ignore her would technically be social suicide. "I've tried to talk to her but she barely even replies." _

_"Why would YOU want to talk to her?" I ask, raising an eyebrow. "Well, she is pretty hot." Bristan smirks. "And, you see? She is acing the knife throwing" I look to where he's pointing and he was telling the truth. She-Clove was hitting the bullseye every time. Even with her left and right hand. "I think you should talk to her" Bristan suggests. "What? Me?" I ask. "Yeah" Bristan nods madly. "You're the best in the District, and a real charmer" Bristan brags. I smirk. "True. Very true" I reply. I hand him my training bag, which he holds reluctantly and start to make my way over to the station. "Hey, Cato" I hear a group of girls giggle. I turn to see Cinder and her group of girlfriends walking to me. "Hey" I whisper back as I give her a quick kiss. "What are you doing?' She asks, twirling her hair. "Bristan suggested that I try and talk to the new girl" I replied casually. "Okay. But don't get too friendly…" She tells me with a wink. "Yeah. I won't." I reply. She walks off after saying "Love you!" I keep walking to the new girl while she throws knives perfectly at the targets, as if it was the easiest thing on earth. "Hey Clove" I say with a charming voice. She looks at me for a second and glances back at her knives. "So, you don't like talking do you?" I ask. She doesn't reply. "Well, I think that, that's just rude. Not talking to people. Everyone is trying to be friends with you. Ignoring them is just, rude" I tell her. I lean against the wall. Smirking at her. "So maybe you should try talking. For instance…To me" I barely even see the silver blade tear through the air at me. It hits the wall, barely grazing my ear. My heart stopped. When I realized I wasn't dead. I plastered this huge smirk on my face. "Missed!" I tease her. She saunters over until she was standing right next to me. "Something you need to know is, I never miss." She whispers. She tugs the knife out of the wall and something small and black falls to the ground. I kneel down to the floor and see a fly. A dead fly. I look up at her to see her smirking at me. I smile sarcastically. "Hey, you should talk more... I wouldn't mind hearing your voice more often." I say flirtatiously. She sarcastically smiles back. "Charm won't get you anywhere" She informs me. I shrug. "Wasn't trying" I mutter. I look deep into her eyes. She had chocolate brown eyes. They weren't attractive and sexy like Cinder's. But there was something in her eyes. Like a secret or something. That I wanted to know. I reach out my hand. "I'm Cato" She stares at my hand. Hesitantly, she reaches out and shakes it. I grin. "See you around then." I say walking away. Bristan, Cinder and the entire popular teens envelope me. "What happened? Did she talk? Is she hot? What did you say?" The crowd buzzes. I shrug. "Nothing special. But she did throw a knife at me." I smirk. Leaving them open mouthed, processing my words. _

_I wake up to a bright, cloudless sky. No training today. I smile. I jump out of bed happily. I put on a clean set of clothes. And sneakers. I love Saturdays. I always go to the same place. To this small hill and up into a tall tree. Its calming and peaceful there. The one place that I can be to think. I've taken Cinder there once. But she doesn't like it. She doesn't like climbing trees. Because she's too girly. I hurry out the door without waking my Dad or my idiot brother. I go to the Marketplace first, to buy some breakfast. As I was buying some small cakes, I noticed this girl at the Jewellery stand. I could only see the back of her. But she looked hot. She was short and small in size. She wore skinny jeans and a red checkered shirt. I paid the counter and walked to the jewellery stand with my box of small cakes. Just as I got there, the girl turned around. She stopped and looked at me. She looked familiar. I recognize her eyes. Brown. My face breaks into a huge smile. "Clove!" I exclaim. As if I'd known her for years. She stares at me blankly. "What are you looking at?" I ask, peering over her shoulder. There were necklaces and bracelets. "Nothing" she mumbles. "What are you doing today?" I say. "Nothing" She mutters. "Mind joining me?" I ask. Before she could answer, I grab her hand and pull her out of the marketplace. I pull her with me, not letting go of her hand. We run past shops, houses, dirt tracks. Finally I stop. We had arrived at the top of the hill. "Come on!" I say as I begin to scale the tree. I sit on the lowest branch. "Come on! It's fun!" I tell her. She steps closer to the tree. I reach out my hand to help her. She ignores my hand and climbs the tree herself. She continues to climb, higher and higher. "Hey! Wait up!" I excitedly yell. I climb the branches, puffing to catch up with her. She finally stops and we sit on opposite sides of the tree. "Look…You can see the whole of District 2 from here." I say, pointing. She smiles. "Thanks for bringing me here." She says. I nearly fall out of the tree. "You're…Welcome" I stutter. "You should smile more often. You look prettier when you smile" I point out. She nods and smiles at me. _Wow. She is truly stunning. _"How old are you?" I ask. "13" She replies. "I'm 16" I say. She nods silently again. "Are you good at wrestling?" I ask suddenly. "Why?" She asks. I grin mischievously. I jump onto the ground. "Come down!" I yell. She obediently jumps down. As soon as she lands, I tackle her to the ground. I pin her down completely in a headlock. "What are you doing?" She struggles. "Seeing how good you are at wrestling" I reply calmly. "Oh" Is all she says. Then, unexpectedly, she manages to flip me over and pin me on the ground. "Nice" I say. Looking up at her. "Thank you. It wasn't too hard" She replies. "No. I meant this position" I tease. She immediately jumps off me and walks to a side. "Sorry" she mumbles, clearly embarrassed. I laugh. "Just messing with you. I gotta go now. See you someday." I jog back home. _


	2. Reaping Day Troubles

I open my eyes and blink at the sunlight streaming in from the window. It took a while for my eyes to adjust to the brightness. I exhaled happily and and looked out the window. Two blue butterflies were fluttering around. The sun was shining and birds chirped merrily. Just another typical day in District 2. I think to myself. I inhale deeply, breathing in all the scents of District 2. Burning metal, smoke, wood, gunpowder. It gives me a comfortable and happy feeling. Out in the distance, I hear clanging of metal and voices. I close my eyes and enjoy the feeling. A knock on my bedroom door startles me to wake up suddenly and I squint at the sun. I spring up from my bed, and my quilt falls onto the ground. I shut the curtains and sigh in relief as my bedroom becomes a cool and shady place, once again. The door opens and my Dad steps in. He is tall and muscular and known throughout the District for his remarkable strength. He has short cropped hair which is a dark shade of brown. He was wearing a shirt and tie. "Hey Dad," I say. "What's up?"

"Are you ready?" He replies in his normal gruff voice. "Er..." I say. "Hurry up" That's all he says. He turns and leaves closing the door behind him. That's my Dad. He's also my trainer. He trains kids from ages 12-18. So that we will be ready to compete in The Hunger Games. A reality TV show where 24 kids kill each other. A sick game with the motto: Kill or be killed. He trains me during training times but he still doesn't let me go at home. I have to do push-ups, sit-ups, you name it. The worst part is, he treats me like a stranger, he never says words like: 'You can do it!' 'I believe in you!' 'I love you!' No. I get yelled at, screamed at, and sometimes when I can't take it anymore, I drop to the ground panting , and I get beaten up. I can only watch myself get beaten and not do anything. If I return a fist or something , I would only get myself into more trouble. In other words, he hates me."Hurry up Retard! It's nearly time!" I hear my Dad yell. I clench my fists and release them. Calm down! I tell myself. I go to my wardrobe and look through it. In the end, I settle on a clean white shirt and black pants. I pull the crisp white long-sleeved shirt over my head and do up the buttons. I put on my dress pants which were a midnight black. After that, I struggle on some ebony shoes which are a tight fit.

I sigh in exasperation and walk across the room to my tiny basin. I look at myself for a second and I brush my teeth. I get a jar out of my cupboard and scoop out some of the cream. Awkwardly, I smear it over my blonde hair. I style my hair so that it's all sticking up. Then I pushed my hair towards the front so my hair seems to be pointing frontwards. I'll have to admit, I looked pretty awesome. I turned the brass doorknob and walked out. Dad was looking at me and kind of shaking his head. "What?" I ask. Kado, my big brother, snickered. He walked over to me and said "Your stupid hair!" With that, he smothered my hair down. " Hey! Back off!" I yell at him, pushing his hand away. "Or what? You gonna beat me up? Wimp!" Corvan teases. I get really angry but I don't do anything. Corvan reaches over and smothers my hair down again. "I mean it! Stop it!" I shout. "Ooh! Little kid is angry! Gonna cry!?" I raise my fist in the air and draw it back. "Whoa! Don't you dare! After a few weeks, I, will be the 74th Hunger games victor! And you, will be a little wimp like you always have been and will forever be! Corvan hisses. Corvan is eighteen this year, and he is confident that he will win. He has been training six years already. I'm eighteen but I have no intention of volunteering. But I can still fight. I swing my fist and stop it inches from Kado's face. Corvan yells and stumbles back, where he falls over a chair and lands on the ground. Corvan growls and jumps to his feet. "Bring it!"

"STOP!" Dad suddenly yells "Both of you!" We freeze. "Kado! Clean yourself up!" Dad commands. Kado, without a word, walks to his room. "And you!" Dad yells. My heart skips a beat. "Listen," Dad walks in close to me and points a finger at my chest. "I don't want you to mess with Kado. He is going to bring pride and honour to our family. Unlike you." A flicker of disgust crosses his face. "And also..Flatten your hair down. It's not a time to look cool." and with that, he turns on his heels, and walks away. "Kado! Hurry! It's getting late!" See? Dad calls Corvan by his name. Now that I think about it, when was the last time Dad had called me by my name? Corvan walks out of his room. Styling his brown hair, into THE EXACT SAME HAIRSTYLE THAT I HAD! HOW DARE HE!? AND HE SAID IT WAS STUPID! Dad stared at Kado, and I realised I had a smirk on my face. I waited for Dad to tell him off. But Dad just gripped Corvan by the shoulders. Their foreheads were nearly touching. "Kado. Listen up. You can do this. You're strong...Kado! Don't look at Cato! Remember our tactics? Make friends. 1 and 4. Okay? Win sponsers. I believe in you Son." My Dad mutters quietly. My mouth drops open. Unfair! He's never called me 'son'! "Wereyoumeanttobewhispering?'CauseIheardeveryword!" I smirk. They both turn their heads to look at me. My grin drops and I turn to look at the ceiling whistling. Looking as innocent as possible. Corvan glowers at me and I glare back. Geez. What's his problem? He's not good at fighting or using weapons. I could beat him in a fight. I bet. But yet, his biggest weakness is smartness. No kidding. He is as dumb as a...um...ok. Whatever. You get my point. I hear a knock on the door and I go and answer it. "Hi!" Clove chirps. My face breaks into a huge smile, despite all the drama I've just been through. "Hey." I say. I look at her up and down. She was wearing a black and white dress, and she had her hair let out. "You look beautiful today." I say. "Thanks. You too" She blushes looking at her shoes. She looks up again and we stare into each other's eyes. I don't know how long that was. I open my mouth. "Um…Clove. I-Maybe we-I think…I-err…Um." I struggle to find the right words. She laughs softly. "Embarrassed much Cato?" I laugh nervously. "I was saying…erm…I think I…"

"Hey Clove" I hear a voice say from behind me. I roll my eyes and turn to my retarded brother. Corvan had a hand rested on his chin and he looked at Clove up and down. "Wow. You look hot" He flirts. Clove blushes. "Just go away Kado." I say. Holding the swear words back. "Whatever little bro" He rolls his eyes and winks at Clove. "See you later, babe."  
"Just shut up will you?!" I demand.

"TIME TO GO!" Dad hollers. "Okay. See you soon" She whispers, running away. I turn back to Dad. His face is still in a frown. No surprise there. He never smiles. I haven't seen him, neither has any of our neighbours. I wonder if he ever will...

We arrive at the JusticeBuilding. I see innocent children walking in. They don't look too upset. No wonder there. District 2 always has volunteers. Like today. A jerk that I call brother is volunteering.

...And. Personally, I doubt he would make it to the final 8.

Zap! I barely flinch as the Peacekeeper blotted a drop of my blood onto a piece of paper.

I spot Clove in the 15 year olds section. I never got to tell her what I wanted to. I'll tell her after the Reaping. I stand in the mob of 16 year olds. Ricky, a guy that I know from training class, pushes his way through the crowd to talk to me. "Hey, Cato" he says. " Hey Ricky. You nervous?" I ask. "Pfft! Of what!? What have I got to be nervous of?! Knowing that your brother is going to volunteer! Did I mention, he is my idol?" Ricky sighs happily "Could you maybe get me his signature sometime? You are so lucky to be his brother! You must be so happy!"

I smile and reply sarcastically "Oh, you have no idea.."

"Welcome! Welcome! The time has come to select one courageous young man and woman, to fight in the 74th Annual Hunger Games! First, here is a short video, brought to you, all the way from the Capitol..." Trills Jingles, our escort. Her long pink hair flapping around freely.

I barely pay attention. It's the same video every year. Talking about how we are at the Capitol's mercy, blah blah blah...

"Ladies first!" I hear Jingles announce. "CLOVE SEVINA!"

No! Did I just hear it right? I watch helplessly as the girl with beautiful brown flowing hair walks up to the stage. "Any volunteers?" Jingles asks. Yes! I thought. Clove will be safe! There is always volunteers! But to my utter shock, no one raises their hand. Oh no, I groan silently to myself. Everyone knows Clove is skilled at throwing knives. She's only 15! At that moment. I realized how much Clove meant to me. I have to do something. But before I could, Jingles walks over to the 'Boys' glass bowl. She dips her hand in and rummages around. She gets her hand on a piece of paper. With a flourish, she whips her hand up in the air and shows us the slot of paper. The whole of District 2 has their breath held. Jingles unfolds it and speaks into the microphone. "Jake O'Deir!" I watch as an average sized boy makes his way up on stage. I've never seen him before. He can't be over 14 years old. I look around and see everyone staring at Kado. He grins. Everyone waits for him to volunteer. No one else is going to volunteer, because Corvan made it very clear that he is going to kill whoever stands in his way. Jingle asks the question. "Any volunteers?" I glance at Corvan and he winks at me. He opens his mouth. "I VOLUNT-" I turn around and yell "I VOLUNTEER AS TRIBUTE!" I ignore all the stares and glares as I make my way up onto the stage. All I could think about was, I have to protect Clove. That's all that matters. Jake exhales and whispers a "thank you" as he runs down the steps. "What is your name, brave boy?" Jingles asks. "Cato Hadley" I say. There is a ripple of murmurs and gasps from the crowd as they realize who my brother is. Jingles is telling us to shake hands. I look at Clove's outstretched hand. I reach out and shake it. I look into her soft brown eyes as she looks back into my cold blue ones. Jingles claps her hands in glee and announces to District 2. "Our tributes from District 2, CLOVE AND CATO!" Corvan is seething with anger and is turning red.

I sit on the sofa nervously, twisting my fingers and shuffling my feet. The door creaks open and Corvan rushes in, followed by Dad. I stand up and Corvan points a finger at me. "YOU!" He yells, his face boiling with anger. I didn't care. I was going to protect Clove. "I'm sorry! I-" I stop. What am I going to say? I 'accidentally' volunteered? "YOU TOOK AWAY MY ONLY CHANCE! I HATE YOU!" Corvan swings his fist at my face, but I easily catch it with my hand. He struggles to pull his fist free, but I hold it tightly. I lean forward and speak softly in his face. "You need to calm down, brother." I realise the tone of my voice, was calm but also, taunting. I straighten back up and push his fist into his chest. He stumbles back, with a shocked look on his face.I was no longer the wimp that he had known. Corvan lifts a trembling finger. "Don't call me brother." He says. Tears streaming down his face. "I have no brother like you!" He screams. And with that, he runs out of the room. Dad makes no attempt to stop him. Dad walks over to me and I brace myself for a yelling. Instead, Dad says "Cato, are you sure about what you're doing?" I hang my head and sit down on my seat heavily. "I don't know. I-I." I cant let Dad know what I'm planning to do. "No! You did the right thing!"

"Huh? Wha-?"

"Cato, I know... I know you are stronger than Kado. I always knew. But, you didn't want to volunteer. You're ready. Trust me."

"I don't know. I volunteered because of Clove-"

"Don't let the girl distract you. You have to win."

"But-"

"No buts! Bring pride to our family."

Dad turns and walks to the door. Just before he walks out, he stops and turns his head slightly. "And remember, I believe in you...Son." The corners of his mouth slightly turns up. Is-Is he s-smiling?! Dad leaves, leaving me, mouth gaping.

The doors open again and Cinder steps in. I stand up. "What do you want?" I growl. "I dumped you already."

"Cato. I just wanted to ask you, do you like Clove? As in, love?" I am taken aback by this question. "What?! . She's just my best friend." I protest. She raises an eyebrow and a smirk appears. "Yeah. I'm sure." She replies sarcastically. "I saw the look on your face when you volunteered. You volunteered for her. Didn't you? I don't think normal friends would do that."

"Shut up" I snarl. She throws her head back and laughs. "I was right!" She laughs before strolling out the door. My ears burned. What if she is right?


	3. Love Rival?

I stare around at the beautifully decorated interior of the train. I hear someone behind me and I turn around to see Clove. Her face is wet with tears. "Why did you volunteer?" I didn't know how to answer so I just pulled her into a hug. I was going to tell her that I would protect her. That I volunteered so I could save her. But then, I remembered what Dad had said. _"Don't let the girl distract you. You have to win."_

I pulled away from her embrace. "I-I don't know." I stammer. Clove opens her mouth to say something, but I don't let her. I turn and run to my room holding back tears.

I run to my room and slam the door behind me. I flop onto my bed and wipe my face with my hands. I realise my face was wet with tears. _Why? _I ask myself. _Why? Why would hurting Clove make me cry? When I hugged her...What did I feel...Was Cinder right? Maybe I do… _

I woke up to a knock on my door. Groggily I went to the door and opened it. A familiar man stood in the doorway. He looked quite young. Seventeen at the most. He was okay, good-looking. "Who are you?" I ask and stifle a yawn. The man's brow creased in a frown and he replied "I'm your mentor. Brutus. Brutus Stonefire." He offered his hand. I took it and gave him my most charming smile. "Hi! Nice to meet you! Cato Hadley."

"I know"

" .. okay.."

"I came to tell you that it's time for dinner" Brutus said gruffly.

"Oh great! I'm starving!"

"Thats 'cause you slept through lunch...and, you might want to change first."

I look down at my boxers and blush. I quickly shut the door and get changed. I changed into a cormfortable V-neck shirt and trackies. I strolled casually into the dining room. There was a table with six seats. On one side, sat Clove, Brutus, and an unknown person who had purple hair. The other side had another unknown person, Jingles and an empty seat which I guessed is for me. I took the seat realising it was facing directly at Clove. But I didn't need to worry about awkwardness. Because Clove was laughing and chatting away with Brutus throughout the whole night. I stabbed at my food. At some point. Brutus said something which made Clove burst into laughter. Brutus gently tucked a strand of Clove's hair behind her ear. Making Clove blush. "Thanks" She mumbles. "Yo-You're-Beautiful..." Brutus praises. Clove blushes like mad. I grip my fork tightly and drop it on the table. I wasn't hungry anymore.

I didn't eat anything for the rest of the night. We were called to the living room to watch the reapings. Clove was sitting at one end of a couch. I took this as an opportunity to sit with her. I started to walk over with a big smile on my face. She sees me and smiles back. She really is beautiful when she smiles. Suddenly, Brutus pushes through me and sits down next to Clove. He sits down comfortably and smirks at me. I am furious. Clove's face falls for a split second but then she has this huge grin plastered on her face. She and Brutus continue to talk. I knit my eyebrows in a frown and sit down heavily at the other end of the couch. The reapings start. But I don't watch. The whole time, my eyes were glued to Brutus and Clove. I'll have to admit, Brutus was quite good-looking. He had dark brown hair that falls into beautiful curls. His shining brown eyes were mesmerizing. Not that I had noticed or anything. I tore my eyes off them to look at the TV. A girl called Glimmer volunteers. She had long blonde hair. She was quite pretty. Then a boy with short brown hair volunteers. He looked strong. They were from District 1. We would probably have to team up with them. I guess they were alright. I see our District. I lunge forward to volunteer. Brutus snickers and whispers something to Clove. Clove giggles and Brutus laughs. I clench my fists. I watch bits of the reaping. District 4 seemed pretty weak. I don't think we'll include them in our Careers pack. Careers are from Districts 1, 2 and 4. They are the kids that have been training their whole lives for the Hunger Games. Most of the time, the victors are Careers. I glance at Brutus while the District 5 reaping goes on. Brutus winks at me and yawns. He stretches his arms and puts an arm around Clove. _The oldest trick in the book! _He cuddles her closer to him. At first, Clove looks surprised but she allows him to do so. I am so angry. One, because when Brutus winked at me. It reminded me of someone else whom I hated. _Kado._ At the reaping. He winked at me before I stood up to him. I grit my teeth to control myself from smashing my fist in his face. When I suddenly realize. _Why am I acting so strange? Why am I so angry? Why am I so…JEALOUS?_


	4. F1RST KISS

The reapings go by quickly with only a few that stood out. There was a girl from District 5 who had a face like a fox. I missed her name because Clove was resting her head on Brutus' chest. She was tired. She had her eyes closed. Brutus shifts in his spot and Clove stirs. "Here, let's get you to your room" Brutus sys gently. He helps Clove stand up and walks Clove to her room with one arm wrapped around her waist. I turn back my attention on the TV. The escort is just speaking a name into the microphone. "Primrose Everdeen!" Huh. What a weird name. A young girl with blonde hair walks to the stage. She looks twelve. I feel a bit sorry for her. Then someone is yelling "I VOLUNTEER!" Wow. A volunteer. "What District is this again?" I whisper to Jingles. "District 12" She whispers back. WOW. A volunteer in District 12? Now, that's pretty rare. A girl with brown hair in a side braid. She is screaming 'PRIM!' She hugs the girl and the girl is carried away by a handsome boy. The girl, who looks to be around 16 years of age, is marched up to the stage. She is asked for her name. "Katniss Everdeen" Pfft! What kind of name is that? A boy called Peeta gets called but then I am distracted by a noise. The door to Clove's room slamming shut. Oh! I almost forgot about Brutus and Clove! I stand up. "Where are you going sweetie?" Jingles asks me. "Ummm… Excuse me… I…er….need to go to the toilet." I excuse myself. I run to the end of the corridor. I find Clove's door and I push it. The door slams open. And I barge in. Clove is tucked into bed and Brutus is next to her with his face close to her face. She is half-asleep. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" I roar at Brutus. Brutus looks startled and Clove wakes up and sits in her bed. "What-happened?" She asks. I stomp over to Brutus and lift him up by the collar. "WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? YOU SHOULD BE ASHAMED OF YOURSELF!" I scream in his face. He looks shocked and is turning pale. I am much stronger than him. His toes are just scraping the floor. I lift up my fist and he flinches. He shrinks back into his shirt waiting for the devastating blow. "I COULD KILL YOU RIGHT HERE, RIGHT NOW!" I yell.

"STOP CATO!"

"What?!" I turn my head and Brutus opens his eyes. Clove is standing up next to her bed. "PLEASE. STOP." She tells me. I turn back my head at Brutus. He looks at me expectantly. I glare at him. My fist itching to smash into his arrogant face. "CATO" Clove repeats. I breathe out of my nostrils heavily and drop Brutus to the floor. He crumples in a heap on the ground. A smile plays on my lips. At least I embarrassed him. He quickly jumps up and stumbles out the door throwing a quick look at me. I give him an evil smile. He gulps and continues to run out. "What did you think you were doing?" A voice asks me. I turn and face Clove. "Why were you so…so...aggressive?" _What? Me? Aggressive?_

"Why are you being so protective?" She asks softly. I stay silent. "I saw, Cato. Whenever Brutus and I were together, you weren't happy. You were furious. Why? Cato. Please tell me. Why?" I stare into her intense brown eyes. They looked back at me pleadingly. I didn't know what to tell her. Because I didn't know myself. She steps closer. "Please?" I am locked in her gaze. Then, what happens next was so fast. I take hold of her face with both hands and I lean down and kiss her. Sparks go off in my body and my stomach flips in happiness. I realize._ This is the girl I had fallen in love with. _I didn't want to pull away. I wonder how Clove is feeling. Is she going to pull away? That's when I realized that she wasn't pulling away, she was _kissing me back!_

**_"Don't let the girl distract you. You have to win."_**

Something goes off in my brain. I quickly pull away, breaking the kiss.

"I-I'm sorry…" I stammer. I run back to my room as fast as I can. "Cato!" I hear Clove yell behind me. "I'm-sorry!" I breathe.

I run into my room and lock the door behind me. I slump onto my bed. Looking at the ceiling. I think about the kiss. I touched my lips and sparks explode in my chest. My heart thumps heavily in my I am also in pain. I fall asleep with my heart clutching uncomfortably.


	5. Arriving in Hell

My eyes flitter open. I look around at my surroundings. I see trees. I hear a voice yelling my name. It's echoing in my brain. "CATO! Cato…Cato…Cato!_" _

"CLOVE!" I yell. I turn my head to the side and everything blurs. I get up and run through the forest. Branches hitting me in every direction. I am scratched and bloody. I hear a howl and a dog jumps out at me. "CATO!" The dogs face morphs into a human face. Brutus. "Clove is mine" he snarls. Swiping my face with his claw. "NO!" I cry. "Don't let the girl distract you. Son…" The hound whispers. I see my Dad's face now. "Bring pride to our family."

"NNNNOOOOO!" I yell. Blackness envelopes me. I see myself standing in darkness. I look around confused.

"CLOVE!" I yell out into the darkness. I cup both hands around my mouth. "CLOVE!" I collapse onto the ground on my knees, sobbing. "Clove…Come back...Please…I.I love you..."

I wake up screaming. I sit bolt upright on my bed. "Cato? Are you alright?" A muffled voice asks outside my door. "Yeh. He probably had a dream about his mommy" Another voice replies mockingly. I would recognize that voice anywhere_. Brutus_. He is so going to pay for that. "Yeah. I'm okay." I call out. "Well, hurry up and get ready! We're arriving in the Capitol in a few minutes!"

"Yeah. Alright!" I reply. I jump out of bed and go to the wardrobe. It opens automatically and I choose my outfit. Jeans and a sky blue top. I go into the bathroom and brush my teeth. Then I gel my hair into the way I had always wanted it to be. I grin at myself in the mirror. But when I see my mouth. My lips. My heart breaks.

I walk out to the dining room and try to ignore Clove's gaze. _So awkward…_

"Wow! Did you two plan this or what?" Jingles asks. _What?_ Then I notice what Clove was wearing. _A sky blue top as well. _

"Oh. No. We didn't plan this. Just a coincidence!" I say. I find myself blushing. Brutus scowls. "That was a rhetorical question, genius." He mutters. I shoot him a look that says. _Don't mess with me! _And he shuts his mouth. Clove tries to catch my attention but I look away. "Nice day. Huh?" I say. Looking out the window. "It's always a good day here in the Capitol!" Jingles says happily. "Oh. Okay."

I sit silently and eat breakfast. Avoiding conversations and eye contact with Clove. I pick up my glass of orange juice and raise it to my lips. "OH! LOOK! WE'RE HERE! WE'RE IN THE CAPITOL!" Jingles shrieks. I get scared at her sudden yelling so I accidentally spill half of my juice down the front of my shirt. "Oh. NO!" I groan. Jingles looks guilty and Brutus is muffling a laugh. Clove is smiling as she grabs some towels. She sits back down on her seat and starts to wipe my shirt. I flinch at her touch. But stay still as she cleans up the mess. She was staring at the spilt juice (which was down my chest.) And she looked so cute when she was concentrating. _NO! Stop thinking like that Cato! _My heart starts beating real fast again at her closeness. I prayed that she wouldn't notice. I was getting queasy with her wiping my chest. So I quickly said. "Heh. Why bother? I'll just go and change my shirt!" I hurriedly get up from my seat and run into my room. I decide to change into a V-neck black top. I take off the blue shirt and drop it on the floor. Before I put the top on. I touch my chest. Where my heart is. And feel it thumping fast and hard.

"Cato! The train has stopped! Hurry up and come out!" I snap out of my trance and walk out the door. I hear yelling and screaming. I see Clove leaning out of the window smiling and waving. Brutus is next to her. With his arm around her waist. Steadying her. I go to the other side of Clove and smile at the crowd. The crowd screams even more loudly. I put on my most charming smile at the Capitol citizens. They had the most craziest fashions. So…Ridiculous! Clove looked at me and had a curious look on her face. I smile at her and look back at the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Clove looking confused. She turns to look at Brutus and says something to him. I try not to get angry. _"Don't let the girl distract you" _I think to myself. _Forget about Clove. Concentrate on winning... _As soon as we got off the train. We were ushered into the Remake Centre. I was stripped and lying down on a bed, gritting my teeth as they pulled my body clean of hair. _Ow!_ My prep team consists of three people. Aizel, Xerin and Ersaid. They have funny hair and talk with a retarded Capitol accent. They chattered amongst themselves all the time. As if thinking of ways to torture me. When they had ripped my body clean of hair, Xerin picked up a bag and unzipped it. Aizel selected a sharp pair of scissors from the bag as Ersaid pulled me into a chair in front of the mirror. _What are they-?_ "NO!" I yell. "We're just going to cut your hair!" Aizel explains gently. "No! Not my hair!" I exclaim. "We're going to make it look better!" Xerin butts in. I still say no. But they press a button and restraints click in place over my wrists. "WHAT?! HEY! NO! YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I DON'T WANT-!" I protest. But I knew it was no use. I sigh and pray that they won't shave all my hair off.


	6. Jealous much?

I close my eyes, in fear of watching my beautiful hair falling away. I fear a bit of hair falling past my shoulders and onto the ground. "TADA!" Ersaid announces "AND WE ARE DONE!" I hesitate. Wondering if I should open my eyes. I slowly open one eye... Expecting the worse and am shocked at the result. Actually… More like, AMAZED. My hair seemed no different to before except that it had been thinned and was much lighter than before. It felt really soft and they put some sort of gunk to make it glow goldenly. "Wow…" I say. As I scramble to think of the right words. "That… Is amazing...THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS!" I yell. "Glad you like it. Now. Time to meet your stylist!" Xerin announces. I gulp.

I sit nervously in my robe waiting for my stylist to arrive. I hear a WHOOSHING sound and heels click on the floor. I look up and see a middle-aged man with icy blue hair walk in. I stand up and shake the man's hand. His hand was cold but steady. He was wearing a thin, light blue long sleeve shirt with a white vest. And black pants. As I shake his hand, he introduces himself. "I am Everest. I am going to be your stylist this year" He says calmly, and smoothly. He was kind but there was still an icy tone in his voice. His presence seemed to make the room colder. I wrapped my robe around myself tighter. "I like your hair… 't it?" He asks. "Yes. Cato Hadley." I reply. "Great. Now let's have some lunch shall we?" I nod. He presses a button and the floor sinks down and comes back up with plates of luxurious food covering the whole table. I take my hands out of my pockets and dig in. "So, Cato. I love your hair." Everest says. "Thanks. The prep team fixed it for me. I..Er…like your hair. too.."

"Why thank you! I had it dyed to match my name."

"Well, it really does match your name. I like your name. Oh, and your clothes! Blue, white, sort of your signature colurs eh?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Oh and…um…I hope this doesn't sound too rude… but… It seems that you are, like. Cold?"

"Haha.. No, my dear boy. That is not rude at all! I am glad you noticed! I was surgically altered to make my presence cold and chilling. But the magical thing is, that I don't feel cold at all!"

"Wow!" I gape in awe.

"Yes..." He chuckles. "So, about your tribute parade costume…"

"Yeah?"

"So, I was thinking, gladiators!"

"You...mean like, the Roman fighters?"

"Exactly!"

"So-"

"So, I think, that you and your District partner can be dressed in a golden armor, decorated with feathers and with a winged helmet on!"

"That sounds pretty cool"

"I know! Cool as Mt Everest!"

_This man was all calm and cool when he came in, but as soon as we got started on the topic 'fashion' he goes NUTS! …A true passionate stylist. _

Caesar Flickerman's voice booms over the entire avenue. "Over 100 thousand people, craving to get a glimpse of this years tributes! And the sponsors get to see the tributes for the first time!" I stand nervously with Everest next to our chariot. I am dressed in a sleeveless golden plate armor thing. Which Everest said would show the sponsors and other tributes my muscles. I have this golden winged helmet on my head. I bend down to tie up my sandals when I hear gasps coming from Jingles and Everest. I look up and see Clove standing in front of me. I take a breath inside myself. She looked absolutely stunning! She was dressed in the same style of clothing, except her armor went up to her neck and the wings on her helmet were bigger. She looked so pretty with her makeup and all the other stuff. Jingles, Brutus and the stylists were all praising her. Saying how beautiful she looked. Brutus was practically drooling. I roll my eyes. _Helpless. _"You look handsome Cato" Clove says, turning to me smiling. Inside, I am jumping up and down with joy and wanting to tell her how beautiful she was. Maybe even kiss her. But instead. I nod and say "Thanks. You don't look bad either" I turn my head and look at the other tributes. Especially at the District 1 girl Glimmer. I see her face fall from the corner of my eye and she turns back to the adults. Before I know it, District 1 is rolling out to the Avenue and people are screaming and cheering their names. They are dressed in fluffy pink dresses and suits. We are called to stand in our chariots. I easily step up onto the platform. While Clove struggles to step up. I offer her my hand and she takes it gratefully. As soon as our hands make connection. A tingle goes up my arm. She steps up and smiles at me. I just look straight ahead. Our horses start marching out. People see us and start cheering. Yelling our names. Throwing roses at us. I put my arm out in a dramatic effect and girls start screaming. I smile and wink at the direction of the screaming which triggers another round of screaming. I hear Clove snort. We were the favorites so far. We had the best costumes so far. Wait-? What is that? I see light from the back and loud screaming. I turn my head back and so does Clove. I see fire. Not just any fire. The District 12 tributes were on FIRE! _WHAT-? _They were stealing all our attention! All the other tributes were glaring at them with jealousy. The chariots rolled to a stop in front of President Snow's podium. He spoke to us and then we rolled into a door. We got off the chariots and our stylists came over to tell us a great job well done. Clove attempted to make conversation again. "You did well Cato."

"Hmm? Oh, yeah. You too." I see the District 1 tributes standing there and talking. I stroll over to them and make friends. "Hey. I'm Cato. District 2" I say. "Marvel" The boy says as he shakes my hand. "Glimmer" The blonde girl purrs as she shakes my hand. It was an obvious attempt to flirt. But I didn't feel anything when she touched my hand. At least, not what I felt with Clove. But. Glimmer could be a Plan B to make Clove forget about me. I smirk to myself. "Hi, nice to meet you" I say and wink at Glimmer. She blushes and giggles. Marvel coughs and asks me. "So, are we teaming up this year?"

"Sure, why not?" I reply, shrugging. "What are you guys good at?"

"Spears!" Marvel says immediately. I nod. "Umm…Bow and Arrow!" Glimmer tells me. "Okay. I'm good with swords, and just like, fighting." I say. "And Clove over there…" I gesture behind me "…Is pro at throwing knives"

Glimmer's eyes narrow as she looks at Clove. "Who is she? Your girlfriend?"

I laugh. A nervous laugh. "Nah. Course not! We're just friends. That's all!" Glimmer relaxes immediately. "So, see you tomorrow at the Training Centre?" I ask. "Yeah, well, nice to have met you Cato." Marvel says smiling. "You too" I give him a pat on the back and walk back to my stylists. When I went back, Clove looked at me expectantly. "What?" I asked in a puzzled voice. "Well, what were you doing?" She asks. "Just meeting the Careers." I said causally. Leaning against the wall. "What's their names?"

"Glimmer and Marvel"

"That girl has a stupid name"

"Hm? Really? I actually find that name, quite…special" I say turning my head to look at Glimmer. _Already starting Plan B. _Glimmer is talking with her stylist and laughing. She turns and sees me looking and she waves shyly. I wave back at her. She laughs. I feel eyes boring into my skull. I turn back to Clove with a 'dreamy' look on my face. "Isn't she hot?" I ask Clove. I was lying. Of course. But I had to lie. Clove looked shocked. "Yes. Very." She spits. Then she turns and runs into the elevator and the doors close. I sigh and put my head back onto the wall. I turn to look at District 1 again and Glimmer flirtily winks at me. I just glare at her and look away. That night we were called to watch the Parade. As I sit down. I notice Clove wasn't here. I opened my mouth to ask Jingles but then I remember. _I'm not supposed to care about her! _So I just sit back and relax. "Where's Clove?" Brutus asks. _Wow. So surprising. _"She is in her room. I told her to come out and watch the Parade but she seems to be in a very bad mood." Jingles says. _What? And is that because of me? _"Maybe you should go and talk to her Brutus, dear. She is your girlfriend isn't she?" _WHAT? Since when? No,no,no. Who cares? It's not like, I like her or something…Who cares if she is with Brutus? That would actually be a good thing! _I tell myself. But I just couldn't stop being angry and…jealous. Brutus walks to Clove's room. And knocks on the door. "GO AWAY!" Clove screams "LEAVE ME ALONE!"

My mind was so confused. I really wasn't in the mood for watching the Parade. I walked back to my room. Leaving the adults in the Living Room.


	7. Struggles

I shut the door and try to sleep. _Impossible. _My mind was so wrapped up at everything. _Clove, Dad, Glimmer. _I didn't know what to do. I was so confused! I want to be with Clove. But Dad made it VERY clear. That I HAD to win. I didn't know what to think. I rolled over and looked at the digital clock. It was 12:48 pm. I still wasn't close to sleeping. I got up and walked out silently to the living room. It was so silent, you could hear a pin drop. I sat down on the sofa. I sat there for a while and then picked up the remote, and turned on the TV. It was showing replays from the tribute parade and pictures of the tributes. I took a good look at the tributes. District 11 certainly had a huge contrast. A little 12 year old girl and a giant. I might consider him in the Careers group. I hear a small shuffle. I turn my head abruptly to the direction of the noise. A small figure stood next to the sofa. Which I was sitting, right in the middle of. I squint my eyes and try to make out who it is. "Cato?" A small voice whispers. I recognize the voice immediately. _Clove. _I curse mentally. _Great. What do I do now? Stand up immediately and go back to my room? That would be too rude. And obvious. _So I just say. "Couldn't sleep?" She nods her head. I shuffle across the couch, giving her room to sit. She gingerly sits on the other end of the sofa. The Games certainly has changed us. It is so awkward with her now. When we were back in 2. We were nothing like this. I keep my eyes glued onto the TV. Then I hear Clove sniffling. I slowly turn my head to her. "What happened?" I croak. "No-Nothing, it-it's just…I-I had a…nightmare..." she says uncertainly. I couldn't bear seeing her crying like this, with no one to comfort her. She never cries. _I know I'm going to regret this... _I slide over to her side of the sofa and give her a hug. Just like I would have done in the old days. She buries her head into my shoulder. And I awkwardly pat her on the back. "It's alright. It's just a dream…It's going to be alright." I murmur. "I'll..." I pause. _I'll always be here for you. _

My eyes snap open. I realise that there was someone next to me. I cock my head and see Clove, she is sleeping soundly. She looked safe, relaxed and happy. I remembered how she was crying last night. How I hugged her, and how she slept so happy in my arms. How, I slept, with her in my arms. It was a nightmare-free night for both of us. She was still asleep. _I should go back to my room before she wakes up and gets the wrong idea. _But before I do, I give her a quick kiss on the forehead. Knowing that I will never be able to do that again. Then I carefully take my hand away and run back to my room.

I bury myself under the covers and try to fall back it impossible, I get out of bed and walk out to the veranda. I look out into the shining Capitol of Panem. A look of disgust flickers across my face. These people are blood-thirsty and violent. Watching kids dying for entertainment. I hated them. I hated President Snow. I hated this world. And I hated myself. I am hurting the one I love the most by obeying an order, that I don't believe in. I hated my life. And I think it's time I ended it. I couldn't take it anymore! I climb over the handle bar and stand on the edge of the veranda. I take a deep breath. _Goodbye, cruel world. Goodbye Clove…_ "I...I love you…" I whisper. And I let go. I feel myself fall down and down. To my destiny…To my death…


	8. Mission Make Clove Jealous

I feel myself free falling. And I let myself enjoy the last moments of my life. The wind rushes in my face and my hair billows back. I hit something hard and feel myself get flung backwards. _What in the world-?_ I bounce back up to the veranda, yelling. My back hits the stony ground. Hard. My vision blurs and I black out…

I wake up to the evening sky. My head is aching and I feel sick. I stand up wobbly and grip the edge of the handle bar. My stomach lurchs and I quickly run into the bathroom and throw up into the sink. My throat is parched and sour tasting. I rinse my mouth and hands and flop into bed. I sigh and stare aimlessly at the ceiling. _Who thought suicidal would be so hard? _I am so frustrated. I should've known. Of course they would put a force field surrounding the compartments. I lie until my stomach settles. As I begin to feel better. I begin to drift off…

**_KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!_**

I groan. "Who is it?!"

"Breakfast time!"

"What time is it?!" I ask Jingles.

"Six in the morning!"

"WHAT!?"

"Hurry! Hurry! You'll be late for training!"

"No…" I moan.

I grumble to myself and force myself to sit up. I walk out the door to where Jingles was standing. Jingles was knocking on Clove's bedroom door. "Wakey wakey! Clove!" She trills. I scoff. "I think she is on the couch." Jingles walks out to the living room and excalims, "Awww…" Curiosity got the best of me, and I wandered out to see what was the fuss. I see Clove, still sleeping and then I see Brutus sitting, where I was. With an arm around her and his other hand gently stroking her hair. Clove stirs when Brutus and Jingles tell her to wake up. She looks at Brutus. Then Jingles. Then me, with a very confused look on her face. She looked back at Brutus again. "Were, you here the whole night?" She asks Brutus warily. Brutus quickly answers "Yes! Yes. Of course I was." I was just about to yell at Brutus and claim, that I was the person who was with Clove the whole night, not him. But I stopped. If I say that. It might as well be saying that I like Clove. So I stay silent.

I quickly eat up my breakfast, consisting of scones, fruit and juice. Then I go back into my room, and change into the training clothes that had been laid out for me. The uniform was skin tight, black material with red and grey stripes at the shoulder places. I had black pants and boots. Brutus knocks on the door and I go out. Shooting him daggers as I pass. I go into the lift, where Clove is already waiting, in her uniform. I press the button to the training centre and the lift starts to move. During the time in the lift, it was an awkward silence. "So…Did you sleep well last night?" Clove asks suspiciously. I cough. "Um… Yeah. I slept great."

"You were in your room the whole time?"

"Yeah. Why would you ask that?" I asked looking at her. She quickly looks away. "Umm…I don't know... I just…" She trails off. The lift stops and the doors open. Clove, without a word quickly walks out and I follow behind her. We walk into the training centre and gawp at the sight. There were weapons everywhere, obstacle courses, trainers, and stations of all survival skills. I see Clove staring at the knives station. I walk and see the tributes from District 1. "Hey" I say. "Oh, hey. Cato" Marvel replies. "Hi Cato!" Glimmer squeals. Jumping over to me and taking hold of my arm. "I'm so excited about training!" She gushes. I see Marvel rolling his eyes a bit and see Clove out of the corner of my eye, giving Glimmer a dark look. _Bingo. _"Yeah. I'm excited too." I tell Glimmer. She pulls me towards the bow and arrow section. "You're going to watch me later right?!" She asks. "Yeah...Probably..." I say. I loosen myself from Glimmer's grasp and go to Marvel, who is standing and looking at the spears. "Hey. What do you think of four?" I ask Marvel. Motioning towards the tributes that had just walked in. "What's four?" He asks dumbly. I roll my eyes. _Duh. _"The. District. Four. Tributes." I say. Slowly and pronouncing each word carefully. He scowls. "Hey. Don't talk to me like that. I'm not an idiot, you know." I scoff at him. "I don't know…I like the boy's hair" I glance at the male tribute's hair. It was like, an orange afro.

"Seriously?! I'm talking about excluding them from the Careers' pack!" I exclaim. "I knew that" he says stubbornly.

I roll my eyes and turned away. By now, most of the Districts have arrived. The poorer districts were staring at the equipment and the weapons like they've never seen them before. _Pathetic. _I think. The door whooshes open and District 12, Katniss and Peeta walk in. I find myself glaring at them. _They think they can win? District 12 has only one victor so far, and he is a drunkard!_ _You want to win?! Get through me first! _But part of me was nagging myself. I wasn't just scared of losing to them. I was scared that they would be a threat to Clove. _Whatever. Don't worry about it. They probably won't even get a score higher than 5 in the test. _I tell myself. We all stand in a semi-circle around our head trainer, Atala. She explains the rules to us. "There will be no fighting with other tributes. You'll have plenty of time for that in the arena." She explains. Throughout the explanation, I noticed Katniss Everdeen glancing at me. Whenever I look back at her, she would look away. Finally, Atala lets us scatter to our stations. I run to the swords section and start to combat with a trainer. I see Marvel throwing spears at targets. He is actually pretty good. Glimmer is shooting arrows and missing the target by centimetres. Clove is as usual, at the knives section. I stop and stare at her. She grabs, like, 5 knives and then, one by one, human shaped targets light up in the order she should hit them. She throws one from her right hand with ease and hits the bullseye. She throws another knife which was at the opposite side, with her left hand and then one right in front of her lights up. Within a split second. She does a 360 and catches the bullseye. She turns around and walks to get knives, while breathing out of her mouth. I couldn't help but notice her lips…


	9. Its all training

Cato: I wait impatiently for the bell to ring, signaling lunchtime. I glance at Clove, who is staring up ahead.

Finally the bell rings. I walk out along with all the other students. When I walk out, most students head for the cafeteria. A few of the rich blondes cling to my arm. I try to 'politely' shake them off. "Cato…" One of them whined. "Are you really dating Clove? Wouldn't you much rather date one of us? We're prettier and richer!" They whined.

Clove: I wait for Cato to come to the cafeteria, but when he doesn't, I walk back to the lockers to look for him. I see him standing with the rich girls in the class. They were surrounding him and flirting. I clenched my teeth, I was about to rush out when one of them said, "Wouldn't you much rather date one of us? We're prettier and richer! Remember when we were dating? You still like me don't you?" I paused and hid behind the lockers, I wanted to hear what Cato would say. One of them, the one sitting next to me, kissed his cheek. My hands tightened into fists. I could tell Cato wasn't happy. She trailed kisses down his neck. And Cato snapped. He flung their arms off him and glared at them menacingly. "Shut up. I would never date one of you. I don't care if you're richer. I love Clove and I would never hurt her." He turned and walked away. He passed the lockers but turned and looked at me. "Y-You saw that…Didn't you?" He says quietly. I nod. "I love you too Cato" I say and give him a quick kiss on the cheek. He smiles.

Cato: After walking Clove home, I walked back to my house. The doors opened and my Dad's assistant came up to me. "Mr. Cato. Your father wants to speak to you. He is in his office." I swallow. I walk up the stairs and nervously knock on the door. "Come in" I twist the knob and enter my Dad's room. He glares at me. "Sit" He commands. I sit down on one of the office chairs. He turns his computer to face me. He clicks a button, and the video that everyone has been laughing about, plays. I fidget with my shirt. _I am in so much trouble. _Dad suddenly slams his fist onto the table. Causing me to jump. His nostrils flare. "What have you got to say?!" He thunders. I breathe in deeply. "She's my girlfriend" I say. Dad breathes heavily. "I know that" He says through gritted teeth. "What have I told you about what kind of girls you date?"

"What's wrong with Clove?!" I protest "She's kind, considerate, pretty, caring-"

"I hired a detective! And she isn't rich."

"Dad! So what?! Why do you care so much about wealth?!"

"It's not about how rich she is! It's about betrayal!"

"What are you talking about?!"

"Can't you see son? She is after your money! She doesn't really love you! She's just using you!"

"NO WAY! CLOVE WOULD NEVER DO THAT!" I yell. Dad walks over to me. "Listen Cato. If you don't break up with her. I will. I will use any possible action to break you two up. And don't blame me if she gets hurt." He laughs cruelly and sends me out the door. I shake my head. No. This can't be happening. Why? WHY!?


	10. Anger

We all sat on the bench. Waiting nervously for our names to be called. Then we would have to go into the training centre to show the Gamemakers our skills. Glimmer was clinging to my arm the whole time. I could feel Clove glaring at her/us…Marvel's name was called first, and he started to walk. As he passed, I gave him the fist, wishing him luck. 10, 15 minutes passed. "**Glimmer Rambin" **The automatic voice called. Glimmer stood up and I gave her a hug. She smiles and does something totally UNEXPECTED and UNNECESSARY. She planted a kiss on my cheek. Then, with a wink, she skipped into the room. My face was burning as I sat back down on the bench stiffly. I wonder what Clove thought of that? I'm pretty sure all the feelings she had for me are long gone. I hope…

**"Cato Hadley" **

My heart thumps heavily as I walk into the room. I see the Gamemakers sitting up on a special platform. "Cato Hadley!" I call up to them. The head Gamemaker, Seneca Crane nods his head politely. "You may start, Mr Hadley"

I nod and make my way to the swords. I grab one of the ones that looked pretty sharp. I weighed it in my hand. _I could work with this. _I made my way to a circle of foam dummies. I glanced at the Gamemakers. They all looked interested. I gripped the handle and took a deep breath. I swung my sword and sliced a dummy clean in half. Without hesitation I turned and sliced two heads in one swing. I turned again and stabbed another dummy. My sword poked through the dummy's back. I jerked my arm back and the sword came out. I twirled the sword in a fancy way that my Dad had taught me. Seneca Crane raised his eyebrows, impressed. "Ready?" He asked, grinning. "For wha-?" I start. Crane presses a button on his armrest and I hear a whirring sound. My ears prick up and my fighting instincts kick in place. I spin and just in time, see a dummy rushing at me. I swing the sword but the dummy ducks. It was on an automatic moving thing. My eyes follow the dummy, anticipating its next moves. Realizing time was running out, I ran at the dummy. I managed to cut its arm. I tackled it to the ground and, sitting on its stomach, stabbed it repeatedly. I hear another clicking sound. I take my sword, twirled it so the point was facing backwards and stabbed. My head didn't turn an inch. The satisfying sound of foam tearing apart reached my ears. I smiled to myself. As I stood back up and turned around to the dummy that had a hole through it. A few Gamemakers applauded. I bowed (as I was taught) then strolled over to put the sword back onto the rack.

"Come on! It's time to watch the scores!" I walked out of my room excited but sad. I don't know why. I just haven't been myself these days. I'm always feeling depressed and upset. _Lovesick. _Was the first word that came into mind. But I brushed it off. _No way!_ We all sat down to watch the scores. Caesar Flickerman appeared, sitting at a desk holding a piece of paper. My heart leapt. I hope Clove and I get good scores. I mean, uh... I get a good score. Caesar begins to talk. He explains how, after three days of careful evaluation, the Gamemakers give us a score from the scale, zero to twelve. "Marvel Quaid… With a score of…" Behind Caesar, Marvels face appears and a number 9 flashes. _Nice work bro. _I think. "Glimmer Rambin with a score of…nine!" Caesar announces. I see Clove roll her eyes. "Jealous much, Clove?" I say. "WHAT?! I mean...Why?! I...why..." She stutters. "I'm just messing with you!" I laugh. Clove sits back in her chair with a huff. In her eyes, I saw **jealousy**. But it won't be because of the scores right? Then what would it be? "Next, from District 2, Cato…With a score of…" I hold my breath as I see my face appear.

"TEN!"

"Yay!" Jingles squeals. "Well done! Cato!" Everest says. "Thanks" I reply. Happy with myself.

"Clove, with a score of…A ten as well!"

The room erupts with cheers. The adults are all cheering and giving toasts to each other. Clove and I both stand up, just to join in the happiness. Clove catches my eye and once again, we are locked in each other's gaze. Time seemed to freeze and all the cheers faded. There was no sound, nothing in my world. All there was, was Clove and I. Nothing else seemed to matter. Only us existed. "Cato?" Clove says. I snap back into reality. "Nice job Cato. Ten is really good." She tells me. "Th-Thanks…You did really well too" I say. She nods and suddenly rushes forward and hugs me. She is like, one head shorter than me, she wrapped her arms around my waist, her head was on my chest and I was just standing there clueless. _Personally, I enjoyed this feeling. But I can't …I must…_I pushed her away gently. "D-Don't…" I mumbled looking away. Pain filled her eyes. I sat back down on my seat as the adults calmed down. I watched the scores silently. Everyone got really low scores. None of the other tributes got more than seven yet. "District 11's Thresh, with a score of…NINE!" I breathed heavily. _This is a force to be reckoned with… I have to kill him! The earlier, the safer Clove would be…_ "Rue, with a score of a seven!" _Wow...I wonder how she got that? _

"Peeta Mellark with a score of an EIGHT!" _I can't believe he got that high! _"Katniss Everdeen…" Caesar says slowly. I hold my breath. _Please be under eight…please… _Caesar double checks his paper. _Did he look at it correctly?_

"A score of ELEVEN!"Caesar exclaims. "An ELEVEN!?" I hear myself yell. "How could she get an eleven!?" I was raging. "Calm down Cato!" Jingles says. Clove stands up and pulls me into my room. "What?" I argue angrily as she shuts the door. I continue to rage and kick the wall. I throw lamps at the ground. Enjoying the sound of it shattering. Clove looks through the bathroom, looking for something. I ignore her and keep yelling. "AN ELEVEN!? NO WAY! HOW COULD SHE?!" Clove rushes over to me. She tackles me to the ground, completely pinning me down. I struggle. (She is surprisingly strong for her size) She then pushes something into my mouth, forcing me to swallow it. I knew what it was instantly. I swallowed it and calmed down. She got off the floor and I stood up. I embarrassedly rubbed my neck. "Um…Thanks…for...You know…helping me…" I say to her. "Yeh…Its okay…But, Cato…you really have to learn how to control your temper…its getting worse…You wont have your medicine in the arena you know"

"I know. I know…" I sigh. _I have anger management problems…No one in the world knows…No one except for Clove. _"I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" I ask. Because I am not always in control during a rage. I don't know what I do and I can't control myself from doing anything. "No, you never hurt me." She replies with a smile. I blush slightly. Then, realising that she was beginning to like me again, I asked her. "Do you like Glimmer?"

"No. I ...Well, maybe-"She stammers. "Why? Do you like her?" She asks, suddenly changing the subject. "Yeah, well she's okay. Maybe better than okay. I don't know. She seems to like me..." I say. "And you like her back?" was the suspicious reply. I grin. "Maybe…" Her face darkens and she turns to the door. "We… better go out now." She mutters. I follow her footsteps as she walks out. I whistle a happy tune. (Trying to act happy when I am actually really depressed) We walk back into the living room and sit back down. _I have no idea why. The scores are over already. _"Cato, would you PLEASE explain, why you were suddenly so angry just then?" I look at the floor. "I have anger management problems…" I mumble. "LOOK AT ME WHEN YOU ARE SPEAKING TO ME! MANNERS!" Jingles commands. _Woah… I never knew Jingles could be so fiery. What should I say to her? Not the truth definitely and not the other reason. The other reason which was that I'm worried that Katniss would be a threat to Clove. Hmmm… that gave me an idea. Should I risk it? Yes-NO! Yes! I have to!_

"It's because I like Glimmer!" I exclaim suddenly.


	11. The truth?

"It's because I like Glimmer!" I exclaim suddenly. Bringing my head up and looking at Jingles determinedly. The stylists and Brutus gasp. I hear Clove take a sharp breath. And cover her mouth with her hand. Jingles recovers from shock. "But…But you know, only one of you can survive…" She says. "I know…and I plan on it being Glimmer…I'm going to protect her." I say as truthfully as I could. I pretended that I was talking about Clove but replacing her name with Glimmer, to make it sound like it was real. More gasps. "Y-You can't-Oh! Whatever just-just do whatever you want! I don't care if you die!" Jingles storms into her room. "Are you being serious Cato?" Brutus asks, leaning forward. "Yes I am." I repeated. "Do you know what you're doing?"

"Yes I do."

"Then I have nothing to say…" Brutus leaves. Clove's stylist, Cyri. Gets up and leaves to her room as well. "Cato-"Everest begins. I hold up a hand and stop him. "No. I don't want to hear it. You don't believe me? Well, I'm telling you now. I like her. She likes me. And there's nothing you can do about it." I say firmly. I stand up. "Understand?" I ask. I walk into the hallway. As I walk there, I pass Clove and she is holding tears in. My heart shatters into a billion pieces. I pause in the hallway. Wondering what I should do. "Clove-? What's wrong?" Everest inquires. Not knowing that I was standing in the corridor, in the shadows. "N-Nothing" Clove mutters and she runs into her room without noticing me. Silent tears run down my cheeks.

I walk into my room and reach to shut the door. A hand stops the door and I feel a chill run down my spine. "What do you want?" I grumble at Everest. "I need to talk to you" he replies coolly, strolling over to sit in a chair. He calmly folds his hands neatly on top of his lap and looks at me. "Look at you…You've been crying"

"No! No, I haven't!" I answer a little too quickly. "It wasn't a question, it was a statement." He tells me. "I know everything Cato."

"Really?" I ask mockingly. "Yes." He points an accusing finger at me. "You don't love Glimmer. You love Clove"

"What?! No! I-"I protest. "You have to tell me Cato. You have to talk to someone. You would be too stressed and depressed. Because-you know you can't be with Clove"

"You're lying." I growl.

"No. I am not. You are lying. You are saying you like Glimmer so that Clove won't like you. You know that you shouldn't get too attached to another tribute. That's why."

I give up. "Yes…You're right…You do know everything" He smiles. "But, you do know you're hurting her don't you? You're both depressed. And you both know."

"Then what do I do!?"

"Make your days last" Everest finishes and he disappears from my room. _Make your days last?_


	12. Seriously Glimmer? Seriously?

"Clove…Come back…Please…I love you…"

"NO!" I yell. Jingles and Brutus burst into my room. "Another nightmare?" Jingles sighs. Numbly, I nod. "That's like, the third time in a row." Brutus says matter-of-factly. "What are these nightmares about?" They chorus. "Um…nothing much." Just as I finish this sentence, I hear a scream coming from Clove's room. My heart jumps. Brutus and Jingles run to Cloves room and bursts in. "WHAT HAPPENED?!" I heard them say. "Nightmare" Clove replies quietly. _I wonder what her nightmares are about? _

Its interview night tonight. So Clove and I have to train with Brutus and Jingles on the way we sit, talk and walk. I groaned when I heard this news. _Great…Spending a day with two of my least favourite people…_

"Sit up straight!" I straighten up. "Alright, we have to make an angle for you. Mean, brutal, vicious, charming, one of those things." Brutus says. "Okay." I reply. "So…hmmm…how about brutal and vicious with a slight edge of charming? That sound good?"

"Perfect." I smile. _I want the tributes to fear me._

It was a tiring day. Working on my attitude, my answers and my posture. Finally, the time came to get into our clothing. I meet Everest in my room where he, and my prep team is. I greet him tiredly and he tells me to change. I button up a formal black long sleeved shirt and black pants, and then Everest puts a silver jacket on me. "Great! Now let's get your make-up done!" They make me sit in front of a mirror and my prep team starts the magic. I have no idea what the make up stuff is called, but I did recognise one thing, and that was gel. Xerin gels my hair into a slightly different style but it was still cool. "I think we need more glow" Everest mutters. Ersaid nods and collects a jar. He hands it to Xerin and Xerin applies the goo to my hair. He massages it thoroughly and my hair becomes a brilliant golden blonde. Glowing radiantly. "Thanks" I say. They nod. "Okay now, Cato get out there and put on your best performance!" I nod nervously and step out of the doorway. I enter the lift with Jingles. "Where's Clove and Brutus?" I ask. "They went there already." Jingles replies, emotionless. She is obviously still upset at last night's drama. "I was telling the truth y'know." I mutter quietly. She pretends not to hear me as the lift comes to a stop and we step out. I see most of the tributes in their costumes lining up in the interview order, AKA, the district order. Glimmer sees me and gives me this great big smile and runs over to hug me. I hug her back whispering "You look beautiful." She giggles and gives a little twirl. I smile. _Seriously?! She is so full of herself. And that's one of the reasons why I like Clove. Because she is the exact opposite of Glimmer. _Glimmer was wearing a pearl pink dress that kind of resembles a tutu. Marvel was wearing a geeky looking blue suit. Clove was in an orange dress and she looked stunning. The little make up was effective and made her look natural but beautiful. _Too bad I can't tell her that..._

They call Glimmer's name and she happily skips up the steps, before quickly blowing me a kiss. My stomach churns. Glimmer chats to Caesar, wowing everyone with her beauty. Caesar asks her if she was ready and she replies. "Yes Caesar. I am VERY ready." Emphasising the word 'very." Everyone applauds and cheers as Marvel is called up. He is really dumb and answers the questions stupidly. People laugh at him and he thinks it's a good thing. He ends his interview by throwing his arms up in the air with a cheer. "WHOO!"

"And now, District two's CLOVE!" Caesar announces. Clove strolls up to the stage, hitching her dress up a little and sits down on the hot seat. _Good luck, Clove_. Clove answers the questions mysteriously and sweetly. But with a hint of sarcasm, her interview is definitely one of the most interesting ones. _…Or maybe it's just because I like her. _

"Okay, last question, Clove. Do you have a special boy back at home?" Clove frowns a bit and hesitates. "No" She finally answers. "No?" Caesar presses. "Then what about a crush?" Clove smiles mysteriously and opens her mouth. I know what she is going to say. I wait in anticipation. "You know what Caesar? …That's for me to know and you to find out." I find myself smiling broadly. I knew it. "Now we have…CATO!" I jog up the steps, taking in deep breaths. I walk out into the spotlight and the lights nearly blind me. There is cheering and whooping. I straighten my jacket and shake Caesar's hand. "Welcome, welcome. Cato!" He booms. "Nice to meet you." I smile. He smiles back. "Seems like we've got a confident young man this year!" He declares. I smile and sit down on the red chair. "So, how do you like the Capitol?"

"It's…Definitely different. Special, really. The people here, are just wonderful, aren't you?!" I ask the crowd. They all respond by cheering and yelling. The girls are all screaming and yelling my name. I laugh and wink at the crowd to where the screams came from. The girls all scream. I lean back in the chair comfortably. "Cato, you got a really high score in training. What is your specialty?"

"Swords. Definitely. Spears and everything that requires strength." I laugh. Caesar laughs too. "Haha! Obviously, look at those muscles you have!" He laughs. "You are definitely a threat aren't you?"

"Yep. I've been training my whole life for this"

"Also, we've heard news that you have something going on with a fellow tribute. Is that true?" The crowd goes silent. My forehead is beaded sweat. My throat goes dry. The audience waits for my answer. I swallow. "Umm… I guess… you could say that…" I reply nervously. Caesar guffaws. "Why be so embarrassed?! No one would be surprised! Handsome man like you!" Up in the back wings, I see someone motion to Caesar. Caesar quickly wraps up the interview. "So, are you ready for the Games?" I knew exactly how to answer. "I'm prepared,vicious,ready to go." Caesar grins. He grabs my hand and flings it up in the air, yelling my name. "CATO!" The audience goes crazy. I walk off the stage quite proud of myself. I walk down the steps of another room which is where the finished tributes go. I get to the bottom of the steps and the Careers are all there, waiting. Marvel gives me thumbs up and I flash him a smile. Clove is sitting on the couch with her arms crossed. I am just walking over to her when I hear a high-pitched squeal. "CATO!" I turn around to Glimmer running towards me. At the last metre, she trips on her high heels, so I catch her. "Hee. Thanks" She says standing up. She tosses her golden locks over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes at me. "You did sooo well Cato!" She flirts. "Thanks. Everyone loved you when you were up there." I tell her. She smiles hugely. I could feel Clove eyeballing us. Then, out of the blue. Glimmer throws her arms around my neck, leans forward, and her lips crash into mine. I am taken by total surprise, so I just freeze as Glimmer kisses me. I felt nothing. No sparks, my heart wasn't thumping, because obviously, I had no feelings for Glimmer. I hear a noise behind me and the clicking sound of heels running away. I abruptly pull away as I see Clove running into the lift. I start to run after her but Glimmer holds onto my arms. "Cato!" She whinges "Why do you care about her so much? I am your girlfriend!" She pulls me onto the velvet couch and leans her head on my shoulder, as we watch the other interviews. I wipe my mouth with the sleeve of my tuxedo. I keep giving a quick desperate glance at the lift, hoping Clove would come back. Glimmer's grip on me wouldn't relax so I couldn't budge. I tiredly watched the interviews, looking at the pathetic kids who were puny and weak, embarrass themselves up on stage. I wait…and wait…and wait…


	13. Facts

The audience's cheering and screaming jolts me awake. I look blurrily at the TV screen. Everdeen was twirling on stage in a flaming red dress. No, wait. I rub my eyes and look at the screen again. The bottom of her dress is on fire! _I'm pretty sure its just an illusion… _Glimmer has 'jealous' written over her face and our stylists are all looking at Everdeen in disbelief. _She stole our spotlight again! _I am getting seriously annoyed at her now. She tells Caesar that she promised her sister she would try and win. _Dream on! _I scoff. _Get through me first! _The last interview of the night was from Peeta, when Caesar asked him about a special girl, he admitted in front of the whole world that he had a crush on Katniss! There was silence. Everyone pitied Peeta. _He's just using that to get sponsors! _I think. Another round of applause for Caesar as the interviews comes to an end. Glimmer lets go of me finally and swiftly gives me a kiss on the cheek as she walks away with her mentor, stylist and escort. I walk with Everest, Jingles and Brutus silently to the lift and up. They all disappear into their rooms with Everest giving me a sad look and he mouths, _Make your days last... _Everest's door clicks shut, leaving me in the corridor. I start to walk into my room when I hear a creak. I freeze and slowly turn around, not really knowing who would be there. I curse when I see Clove standing in front of her door. Her eyes were puffy and red. "Why are you doing this Cato?" She asks. "Doing what?" I answer, trying to act normal. Clove was still in her orange frilly dress, which made her look even more desirable. "Playing with my emotions" Clove replies impatiently. I am confused. "How?" I ask. I really wanted to know. "Don't pretend that you don't know Cato!" Clove raises her voice. "You know exactly what you're doing and I don't like it one bit!" She half yelled. "Look, I REALLY don't know what you're talking about!" I inform her. I was getting a bit annoyed too. I know that I have to control my anger. "You kiss me one night randomly, then you're avoiding me, then you say you love Glimmer. You make out with her, you care about me one second then you don't. What are you trying to do?!" She yells. "I'm not trying to do anything!" I yell back. "Tell the truth Cato. DO you love Glimmer?" She suddenly drops her voice. "Yes I do." I reply firmly. "I do now, and I always will" I lie. _Whoa…What a huge fib. _"You're lying" Clove says. Tears threatening to spill. "You know what? I cant be bothered wasting my time on this" I say as I turn and walk into the opposite direction, back into the living room. Just, anywhere away. With my back facing her, I begin to walk. "Cato! I know you love me! Why are you lying?!" She asks. I turn to face her menacingly. "Get your facts right." I growl. "I don't like you!" I say. She has her arms crossed and she is looking into my eyes. "So stop saying that I do beca-"I am interrupted because she collides her lips against mine. She has her arms around my neck and she is kissing me passionately. Maybe hoping that this would change my mind. Sparks explode inside my chest and lungs. I find myself shutting my eyes. My lips tingle, sending a chill down my spine. But I loved the feeling. And this feeling, I have never felt with another girl except Clove. _Clove is the one. She is the one that I was destined to be with. _Even though I enjoyed the feeling and could've gone on forever. I gently shoved her away. We stare into each other's eyes and her arms are still on my neck. I am mesmerised by her beautiful brown eyes. My lips still tingle. And I feel a need for Clove. The kiss was like a drug. A very addicting drug. I could never get enough of it. But I force myself to push those thoughts out of my mind. I put on a frustrated and angry face. I take her arms off me, realising that I was kind of holding her waist during the kiss. I curse mentally. I lost myself during the kiss. That's what happens. "Why did you do that!?" I hiss. "Because **I** like you" She blurts out. _Really?!_ My heart leaps with joy. But I am forced to say the next bit. "Like I told you, I never liked you and I never will!" I find myself yelling. The tears that were just about to dry, spilled uncontrollably over her eyes. And instantly, I regret what I had said. _I didn't need to go that far did I? _She runs into her room, slamming the door. Another door clicks behind me and I see Everest standing in the doorway. "You didn't have to go that far, did you?" He asked. I shook my head and pushed my way into my room. Mixed emotions swarm through me. Anger, confusion, frustration. Cold tears ran down my cheeks and to the corners of my hot tingling lips. There was still a fuzzy sensation on my lips which would forever remind me of our perfect, yet impossible love in these merciless Games.

**...And chapter finished! :) . Games tmr. Review what you think :D. Special thanks to my friend for helping me make up the very last sentence ;) . 3 3 **


	14. Clove flirts

_This is it Cato. This is the moment you've been training for. You can do this Cato. You can win! _I breathed out heavily as I looked around the cornucopia and the other tributes. I see the cold metal horn in the middle of the field. At its opening, there were piles of weapons and backpacks. _That's where I'm heading. _The countdown begins. _40…39…38…37…36…_The numbers boom in my head. And I think back to the BOOM of the cannon in my nightmare last night. I shake the thought out of my head. _10…9…8…7…6…5…This is it. _I lick my dry lips in anticipation. _This is what I've trained for my whole life, my blood, sweat, tears. _"3…2…1!" _It's now!_ I sprint off my platform and run for the Cornucopia. My legs and arms pumping with adrenaline. _I'm ready for this. _I reach a rack of swords and grab two, one in each hand. Any tribute that came near, I would kill. The male tribute from District 7 appears with another sword, but showing no skill on how to use it. I slice him in the stomach and blood gushes out of the wound. He stumbles onto the ground gasping for air. I run towards the dumb tributes who think they can get stuff from the Cornucopia safely. I run and see Marvel heading in the same direction as I am in. He is holding a two spears, I nod at him and we start killing at random. I stab a few guys and two girls. Marvel spears another three with his trustworthy spear. I go into the Cornucopia, seeing a boy with two backpacks, I swing my sword at him But he also has a weapon. He knocks it from my hand. Sending it scattering across the floor. I growl. _So that's how you want to play? Huh? _I could still take him out. I wrestle him, and smash his head on the crates. He drops to the ground. I pick up my sword when I hear a bump and see curly orange hair poking out from behind some cases. _The boy from 4. _He tries to run, but with one easy slice, I've got him on the floor, losing his life. We spot no one in sight so we relax our weapons a bit. I see that Clove has got a handful of knives and has killed quite a few tributes. Glimmer manages to stab a couple of tributes. No one except the Careers are still at the Cornucopia. I look at the corpses lying on the ground. Boom! The cannons begin to sound. Boom! Boom! They continue to go off. I count 11 dead. "So what do we do now?" Glimmer asks breathlessly. "Running out of breath?" Marvel asks. "Why don't you get Cato to give you CPR?" I hear Clove mutter. "What was that?" Glimmer asks. I heard, but I pretended not to hear. "Okay guys. That's eleven dead." I announce. "So, now. Let's just get what we need from the Cornucopia. Look for food and water. And weapons that you need." I order. We scatter into the piles, scouring for food and water. I found a few backpacks with bits of food and water. I glance over at Marvel who was picking up a few spears. I notice a bow and a sheath of silver arrows. I pick it up and hand them to Glimmer. "Here you go, make use of them" I tell her. "Thank you Cato!" She squeals. I smile and go back to looking for food. I sling some backpacks over my shoulder and find a rack with all sorts of swords. There were machetes and axes as well. That reminded me of something. "Hey Marvel! Where did the boy from 11 go?" I yell. "I pretty sure he grabbed a sickle and a backpack, and then he ran into the woods." Marvel replies nonchalantly. _That's like the only smart thing that's come out of his mouth so far. _I look through the piles and piles of supplies, picking up anything useful. I walk in deeper into the Cornucopia. I see a small array of knives on a black vest. _That must be made for Clove. _I reach down to retrieve it just as another person reaches out as well. Our hands make contact. I glance up, and sure enough I see Clove, the hottest girl on the planet. _No! Stop thinking like that Cato! _I pause, just staring into her eyes. I love the way how they shine and twinkle. I stare at her face, loving every feature that she has. My eyes search her face, wandering from feature to feature. I try to read her emotion. _What is she thinking about? _My eyes land on her mouth. My mind wanders back to last night. _It felt so good, to have her lips on mine. It felt so right…_ I snap out of my trance and pull my hand away quickly. My mouth goes dry. I wipe my sweaty palms on my pants. Clove's eyes flicker down to the black vest-like thing, as she holds it up. She takes out one of the knives and I immediately recognise it. _It's her favourite one. The one that I got into a fight for._ A flicker of recognition crosses her face, and she allows a quick glance at me. I swallow. She slips it back into the sleeve. She then removes her red waterproof, heatproof jacket. Revealing the skin tight red shirt underneath. She pulls the black vest over her head and adjusts it slightly, so that it was comfortable. All of that seemed to happen in slow motion. And I couldn't seem to be able to take my eyes of her. She kept her eyes on her vest the whole time, so when she suddenly looked up. I was caught staring at her. I could feel my ears burning in shame. She took a knife out, testing the places and without warning, flicks her wrist, sending the dagger flying at me. I am leaning against the wall, too shocked to move. The knife buries itself into the wall. Right next to my ear. _Oh. My. God. She looks hot when she throws. Even though she basically threatened me or something, that's why I like her, because she's her. _She picks up her jacket and walks over right next to me. She takes the knife out of the wall. I am still in the same position, not daring to move, not daring to even breathe. She turns her head so that her lips are just slightly touching my right ear. I could feel her warm breathing on my ear, "You sure you like Glimmer now?" She breathes. I gulp. And nod nervously. She laughs softly. She reaches out her hand out and caresses my face, I hold my breath. She tilts my head so that I am looking at her and my right cheek is leaning against the wall. I am now locked in her gaze. "I wouldn't be so sure about that" She whispers seducingly. Her face is only millimetres from mine. My heart is beating uncontrollably. I long to feel her lips on mine again. She sees me staring at her mouth. And the corners of her mouth curl up slightly. She leans in closer, closing the gap between us, slowly. My heart thumps faster. _What do I do?! _I desperately knew that I had to pull away, for the good of both of us. But I really wanted to stay here. Her eyes flicker to my lips as she leaned in closer. I held my breath tightly. She slightly tilts her head, so that our noses wouldn't crash. Our lips were only, like, two millimetres away. My eyes flickered shut automatically. And I waited. _Yes! She really is going to kiss me! _When it didn't come in five seconds, I leaned forward myself. Still not feeling anything, I lean even further, and then feeling myself falling with a CRASH over some crates, and on the ground. My eyes snap open. And I see Clove looking over me. I was on the ground, like some fool. Clove laughs out loud and walks out of the Cornucopia. "You wish!" She calls over her shoulder. I smash the ground with my fist. I curse loudly. _I acted like a fool. Now Clove knows that I have feelings for her. How am I going to get myself out of this one?_


	15. Clove has a fear

My face burning, I walk out onto the field where the others were. "So, where are we going tonight?" Marvel asks. I look up into the sky. It was getting dark. "We'll go looking for tributes" I announce. They all cheer and I notice Clove was looking at me, with a smirk on her face. My ears burned again. So I quickly grabbed Glimmer's hand and said, "Let's go!" We walked into the woods. Suddenly, I hear the national anthem of Panem play and we all look up into the sky. The seal of the Capitol was showing, followed by the dead tributes. I hoped that the male from District 11 was dead, but the tributes ended at District 10. The seal disappears. "Hey! Look at that!" Marvel whispers pointing to a light in the woods. "It's a fire!" Glimmer squeals. "Who is dumb enough to make a fire?" Clove scoffs. Saying exactly what I was going to say. We silently creep over to the campsite.

A girl with ginger hair, that was all frizzy and curly, was warming herself with a small fire. She hears a twig snap and turns around. _Too late. _She immediately recognises us and looks in horror as I pass Glimmer my sword. "No no! Please! Please don't kill me!" She whimpers. She screams loudly and is silenced by Glimmer. I suddenly hear a rustling to the left. We all turn to the direction of the noise. A figure jumps out of the bushes with his hands up. "Don't kill me! I want to join the Careers!" The person says. "Step forward" I order. The guy steps forward into the light of the fire. Peeta Mellark from District 12. "I can help you find her" _Her?_ I look at him, considering the thought. "Fine" I finally say. "You're in." We put out the girl's fire and walk to a random direction. "Oh my God. Did you see her face?" Marvel laughs. "Oh no! Please don't kill me!" Glimmer mocks. "Heh. That's actually a pretty good impression!" I tell her. She smiles broadly. "Hey! Loverboy! Are you sure she went this way?" I ask. "Yeah. I'm sure."

"Well. You better be." I growl.

We don't manage to find any other tribute which was disappointing. We go back near the Cornucopia to spend the night. Peeta makes a fire and volunteers to stay guard. I glare at him suspiciously. He flinches. I sigh and fall into my sleeping bag. I toss and turn. I finally drift off…

"Ah!" I exclaim. I awaken from my nightmare. I see Peeta still sitting next to the fire beginning to doze off. "Hey!" I whisper. "You can sleep. I'll stay guard" He gratefully slips into his sleeping bag and I sit next to the fire. I look around the Careers until I find Clove. She was sleeping soundly but I'm pretty sure I saw a frown on her face. I have no idea how long I was looking at her for. Looking at her reminded me so much of the times we had before. _When we first met, when we first kissed. _I needed her. I wanted her. I shook these thoughts out of my head.

Day 3 in the Arena. We scoured the forests looking hopefully for tributes, finding none. We were getting frustrated, and bloodthirsty. When the Seal of Panem appeared, I looked hopefully for Katniss Everdeen to be dead. But no tributes died. Clove spoke up. "Don't worry guys. Two days and no one has died. I'm sure the Gamemakers will do something tomorrow. If we're bored, the audience is bored." I nodded. She spoke the truth. "You're smart" Marvel remarked. _NUH DUH._

After a nightmare night again, we return into the woods early in the morning. I smell smoke. I search the sky, hopefully. I see a column of fire coming towards us. The heat was getting stronger and the smoke was burning my lungs. We cough and sprint away from the fire. Marvel, Peeta and I sprinted in front. I hear screams from the back and Marvel and I turn our heads, while still running. Clove and Glimmer tripped over each other and the smoke was reaching them. They had coughing fits and had difficulty breathing. Fear and panic filled my heart. Without hesitation, I ran back to them. I picked the half conscious Clove up and Marvel rushed back to Glimmer's aid. Glimmer was still conscious and whispered "Cato…" I didn't care. Clove's safety right now was what I am worrying about. I sprint towards the lake carrying Clove in my arms. Tears appeared and I was worried that Clove might be. _No! She's okay!_ I tell myself. I reach the lake and I set Clove down next to the lake. I kneel next to her holding her face in my hands. _What do I do?_ _How do I save her? _I gently slide her into the water, feet first. Hoping the cold water would help. I had half her body underwater and I gently splashed her face with water. _Please wake up! Please wake up! _I plead. She needs to drink water. I realise. I scrabble for my back pack and find a bottle of water. I hold open Clove's mouth and slowly pour water into her throat. _Please...Please…_She suddenly coughs and splutters, spraying my face with water. I am too happy to care. "Clove!" I cry. "Clove! Are you okay?" She coughs then vomits. Half of the stuff went on my cargos. But I couldn't care less. "Clove!" I call again gently shaking her. She forces her eyes open. "Cato…?" She whispers weakly. I grab the water bottle and tip some into her mouth. She swallows it properly but still coughs. "How are you feeling?" I ask softly. Her face is dirty from the ash and I'm guessing so is mine. I hear coughing and gagging and Marvel falls down next to me, Glimmer rolling off his back. Marvel pants heavily, catching his breath and Glimmer throws up. Marvel glances at Clove, whose head was on my lap. Then he looks at me. Then at Clove again. "How is she?" Marvel asks concerned. "I think she's okay." I murmur, turning my attention back to Clove. "Here," I say, tossing the water bottle to Marvel. He catches it and hands it to Glimmer. _Marvel has something for Glimmer. Obviously. _Glimmer drinks the water gratefully and Marvel downs the rest of the water that was left. "Hey! Where's Loverboy?!" Marvel suddenly snaps. _Oh yeah! Where did HE go?! _"Guys!" I hear Loverboy call. He arrives, stumbling to the lake. "Where did you go?!" Marvel demands. In answer, Peeta holds up two backpacks. "I went back to the Cornucopia. Figured you guys might need some equipment" He replies smoothly. _Geez. He's always like that. Always so calm and steady. _I catch one of the backpacks that he throws. "I guess you're more helpful than I thought." I mutter. I unzip the bag and find some more water and some food. I unscrew one of the water bottles and drink half of the water. I feel Clove moving and look down to see her sitting up. "Hey, you okay?" I ask softly. She nods. I hand her the water bottle and she drinks it without hesitation. Marvel, who seemed to be the most healthy right now, yelled. "C'mon! Let's swim!" He dives into the water, coming up a few seconds later. "Come on guys! It's so nice and cold!" Glimmer's eyes light up and she jumps in. Everyone is boiling right now. Peeta slips in. Unsure if would be welcomed to jump in and be part of the group. I dive into the water. Relaxing as soon as the cold liquid envelopes me. I tread water, because the lake was so deep. "This is so nice!" Glimmer says. I see Clove, still on the shore, staring at us sadly. I swim to the shore, while Marvel and Glimmer splash each other. I sit on dry land, dripping wet. "Hey, why aren't you coming in?" I ask, running a hand through my wet hair. She shakes her head, looking at her hands, a sad smile appearing. "I-I don't think I will" She says quietly. "Why not?" I ask. "The waters really nice" I persuade. She shakes her head. "Come on!" I say. Grabbing her hand and pulling her to the water. "No! Please! Cato-NO!" She yells. Realising something was wrong. I released her hand. Concern fills my blue eyes. "Clove. What's wrong?" She doesn't reply. She looks away from me. "Clove" I say more firmly. "Look at me" She sighs. "Look, I-I can't swim. Okay?" She says. "I-I'm sorry. Clove. I didn't know." I say. "It's not your fault." She reassures me. "Okay." I say sadly, wading in back into the lake. I didn't feel calm anymore. I felt sad. Useless.


	16. We chase FireGirl

We got out of the water shortly afterwards. Marvel takes off his jacket and shirt and wrings it dry. I peel off my shirt revealing my rock hard abs. I noticed Glimmer staring. I casually turned away and squeeze all the water out of my shirt. I pull the wet shirt back over my head. I shake my hair, splashing droplets of water everywhere. I run a hand through my hair, straightening it back up. My eyes flicker to the right. Clove was looking at me, her eyes still. I look away when suddenly, "Hey! Guys look! We found her!" Marvel yells. Pointing his spear at the water. I look and see Everdeen. "Whoo! Yeah! There she is!" Glimmer and Clove cheer. "Yeah!" I yell. We scramble across the rocks and run after Fire Girl. She takes off into the woods. We hurdle over branches and run after her, taunting her the whole time. "Where you going?!" I yell teasingly. "We're gonna get you!" Marvel shouts. She scrambles up a tall tree and our group surrounds the tree. "We got you now Miss Everdeen!" I tease. "No one's going to help you!" Glimmer yells. She climbs amazingly fast. "Get her Cato!" Glimmer shouts. I start to climb the tree. "I'm comin' for you!" I say, pulling myself up another branch. "Yeah! Get her Cato!" Clove yells. The Careers make a commotion. I reach up to another branch. Just as my hand reaches it, the branch snaps under my weight and I tumble onto the ground. I hit the ground with a loud thump. And I swear loudly. "Useless" They mutter. Glimmer takes out her arrows and aims it at Katniss. She releases the arrow and it would've hit Katniss if she hadn't dodged. "Give me that" I growl, snatching it from Glimmer. I shoot but miss even more than Glimmer. "Maybe you should throw the sword" She teases. My muscles tense up. _How dare she tease us back?!_ Right now, we all want to kill her so much. I was thinking of something when Peeta speaks up. "Lets just wait her out!" I glare at him like he's crazy. "I mean, she's gotta come down sometime, doesn't she? It's either that, or starve." He says matter-of-factly. "He's right" They all murmur. "Fine" I say. Pushing the bow and arrow back at Glimmer. "Somebody make a fire."

We had a small dinner. Some dried nuts and fruit. I glare menacingly at Katniss. She tied herself to a branch. I hear a small beeping sound and saw that she received a parachute. I growl. _Why does she deserve a parachute? _I lie down on my bag, propped up with my elbow. I enter the point of my sword into the burning embers and take it back out. It was glowing red and orange. I gather some spit in my mouth and spit it onto my sword. It lets out a satisfying sizzle and Glimmer laughs. "Boys" She laughs. I smile. I look to where Clove was, opposite me. She had a knife through a lizard, pinning it to the ground. She took another knife out, took aim and released it, hitting the lizards back, exactly where she wanted it. I stare at the flickering fire. Eventually, I drift off to sleep…


	17. THOSE DAMN TRACKER JACKERS

"Cato!" Clove screeches. "Clove!" I yell back desperately. A cannon sounds. "NO!" I howl. "No!"

I force my eyes open. Panting, I look to where Clove is sleeping. She is sleeping soundly. I sigh, relieved. _She's still safe. For now..._

I feel weight on my right arm. When I see what it is, the first thought that comes into my head is, _WTF?! _Glimmer was curled up next to me, snuggling into my arm. _WHAT IS WRONG WITH HER!? _I wanted to push her off and kill her immediately. She was really getting on my nerves. I sigh. _Crazy woman. I'll kill her later. _I wait patiently for sleep to come, but it doesn't. When it finally comes I almost immediately wake from a nightmare again. I'm getting nightmares every night. I haven't had one good night's sleep yet. These nightmares are ruling my slumber. I hear a scratching sound. I look up blurrily to see Katniss cutting a branch. I squint to clear my vision. Now, I see a huge boulder at the end of the branch. _Wait, that isn't a boulder. _I see it falling. A huge crack and horrendous buzzing fills my ears. Little flying creatures are buzzing around, attacking any flesh. I jump up at the searing pain, caused by the stingers. It burns. I hear Clove's voice. "TO the lake! To the lake!"I charge through the trees, seeing Clove's small body running in front of me. She was screaming and waving her arms trying to ward off the swarms of angry wasps. I run, hearing Marvel yelling and Glimmer screaming for help. "Help!" She shrieks. We continue to run, until we reach the lake. Without hesitation, I jump in, knowing that the wasps won't go after me. I hear three more splashes next to me. I let myself relax in the cold water. When I couldn't hold my breath any longer, I swam to the shore, since the wasps were gone already. Gasping, Marvel jumps up next to me. "Wet again." He groans. "Whoa! Look at you!" I exclaim, pointing to his face. "What!?" He asks. I can't help but burst out laughing. He had a huge bulging lump on his forehead. _It's because of the stings! _I grab my face with my hands, feeling around for one. I sigh in relief when there wasn't. But there was one on my neck and hands. Peeta's head pops up. He breathes heavily. "Are there any left?" He breathes. I shake my head. He climbs out of the water and runs back into the woods. "What's he doing?" I ask. "Maybe getting our supplies?" Marvel shrugs. "Where's Glimmer?"

"WHERE'S CLOVE?" I realise. I see gurgling and bubbles in the pond. **_She sighs. "Look, I-I can't swim. Okay?" _**I feel like a ton of bricks had hit me. I dive into the water, desperately grabbing at nothing. _NO! No, this can't be happening! _I feel around for her. _NO!_ I cry desperately. I am running out of air. I swim up and gulp in mouthfuls of air. "Cato! What are you-"Marvel shouts. His voice is drowned out by the depth of the waters. I frustratedly swept my arms around. I snag onto something. I propel myself towards it. My arm wraps around her waist and I push myself up, towards the light. I explode out of the water, gasping for fresh air. Light blinds my eyes. I drag myself, and a very limp Clove to land. "What-?" Marvel gasps. I lay Clove down. Her eyes were closed and her lips were blue. "Clove!" I beg. I bend down to hear her breathing, but there was no breath coming from her. "Cato-It's no use" Marvel says. "NO!" I scream. "I WON'T LET HER DIE!" I entwine my fingers together and put them over her lungs. "Please" I sob. I lean over her and start to push my hands down on her chest. It was resuscitation. I learnt in training. "Please Clove" I cry. Water from my hair and shirt drip onto her. "Please" I say, tears spilling. "Please come back to me. Please!" I pinch her nostrils shut, tilt her head back and put my lips over her. I give CPR. While Marvel is wondering what in the world is going on. I blow air into her lungs, watching her chest move slowly, up and down. _Please! Stay with me!_ I plead silently. I frantically blow more air. Then pump her chest a few more times. I hear a cannon. It echoes in my ears. My heart shatters and I feel weak. She's gone. It's my fault! I couldn't save her! I kneel on my knees and I cry. I push my fingers through my hair frustrated. I am crushed. _The love of my life. She's gone. _I cry. Sobs and muffled cries escape my lips. Marvel stands, shocked. I let myself fall onto the ground. I cover my face with my hands and cry. "Cato!" Marvel yells. "No…no...No...No…" I mumble. _This is just a dream…Wake up. _I tell myself. "Cato!"

"She's gone…She's left…It's my fault…" I mumble. Someone grips me by the shoulders and shakes my eyes open. I stare at Marvel's concerned face. "Cato! Listen to me! Clove is breathing!"

"SHE'S DEAD!" I yell. "YOU RETARD! COULDN'T YOU HEAR THE CANNON!? SHES GONE NOW! SHES NEVER COMING BAC-"I stop when Marvel punches me across the jaw. "WHAT WAS THAT FOR!?" I shout, advancing on him. "CLOVE!" He yells pointing. "SHES ALIVE!" I hear a splutter. I turn my head and see Clove spurting water out of her mouth. "Clove!" I cry. "Clove!" I say, my fingers shaking as I reach out to her face. Her lung moves rapidly. She breathes slower, and steadier. She slowly opens her eyes. "It's okay Clove. Everything's fine" I soothe. She breathes slowly until she gets her breath back. "Thank you…" She breathes. "Anytime" I smile. Inside, I am blushing profusely. She knew what I had done. Suddenly, I remember. "What was the cannon for?!" I ask Marvel. "I dunno" He replies. I curse when I remember Peeta. "Loverboy! He ran off!" I stumble into the words. I see the Girl on Fire. I draw my sword. "RUN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! RUN!" Peeta yells at her. She stumbles out of view. "WHAT WERE YOU DOING!?" I scream at Peeta. "I-I" He stammers. I scream in frustration and enter my sword into his leg. Loverboy screams out in pain. I punch him across the face. He falls to the ground. I raise my sword over him. "Goodbye Loverboy" I whisper. I start to bring the sword down, when the world blurs and my vision becomes clouded. I lose my balance and drop my sword in confusion. I shake my head and reach out for my sword. But he was gone. Fire Girl and Loverboy were both gone. "ARGH!" I scream in frustration. Marvel and Clove walk into view. Marvels flings himself to the ground and he cries. I narrow my eyes. _What is he doing?_ I think. It was then when I see the deformed body on the ground. _Glimmer_. She didn't make it out. She had lumps all over her body. I remember the cannon. Glimmer was gone. Marvel was crying his heart out. "Glimmer!" He bawls. "Glimmer! I love you Glimmer!" He sobs. Even though I didn't like them very much. I felt sad for Marvel. It made me think, _what if someday, that happened to Clove and I? _I shrugged it off. One of us has to die. And I plan on it being me. It also made me ponder, _Marvel never got to tell Glimmer his love for her. He never got to spend the last days with her. I don't want that to happen to Clove and I…Don't I?_

* * *

**Bit of Glarvel fluff. ;) . **

**Spoiler: **

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**..**

**.**

**..**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**...**

**Cato finally admits his feelings to Clove in the next chapter. ;) . **

**Whoop de whoop! **

**...**

**Check out my other fanfics as well. thanks ! :D **


	18. Finally together

**Full-on chapter on Clato romance ! :D .**

* * *

The hovercraft picks away Glimmer's body. I put a hand on Marvel's shoulder. "She knows bro, she understands." He nods. _You'll be with her soon. _I add. _Because I won't have anyone winning, unless it's Clove._ I hear a stumble behind me, and I turn to see Clove collapsing to the ground. "Clove!" I cry out. I look around. The trees were yellow and they were melting. _WHAT?!_ I look at Clove. She was melting too! "Clove!" I gave a strangled cry. _Its hallucinations! _I realise. I get to Clove and hold her in my arms. _What's happening? _I thought. Before my thoughts blurred and I black out. The last thing I remembered was Clove in my arms when I fainted.

I hear a howl. A dog jumped out at me. I scream. And the dog pins me to the ground. "Cato" The dog says. "Cato, I love you." My breathing stops when I realise whose voice it is. _Clove. _The mutt continues. "I love you. Stay with me forever."

"Clove" I whisper. "CATO!" Glimmer shrieks. The dog disappears. And I see Glimmer being swarmed by Tracker-Jackers. I pull Glimmer out and she looks at me. "Thank you Cato. Now we can both win" She says seductively in Clove's voice. "NO!" I shout. Backing away. "Never!" I yell. Glimmer steps towards me. I draw my sword and stab Glimmer in the stomach. Glimmer screams and crumples to the ground. "There" I say. But then, I watch in horror as Glimmer's face melts away, revealing Clove's face. Her stomach is bleeding uncontrollably. "NO!" I scream. _WHAT HAVE I DONE?! _"NO!" I yell again. Lumps begin to grow across her face and the wound I created disappears. Cannons blast in every direction. I scream and cover my ears. I curl into a ball. "STOP! NO!" I scream. I crawl to Clove and wrap my arms protectively around her. Cannons are still firing and I hug Clove tighter. Tears stream down my face. As the noise deafens me. I scream again.

I scream. Only this time, the noise seems more realistic to my ears. I open my eyes. The metal cornucopia. "Hey! Cato! Man, you're finally awake!" Marvel cries happily. "What the-?" I mutter. My head was pounding and everything was blurry. "It's okay bro. They'll go away. It's just the tracker-jacker venom. We put some cream on it so we'll survive." He blabbers. My head begins to clear but I have no idea what had happened. _Why am I here? _I remember something. The nightmare. "Where's Clove?" I ask. "He-S-She I-is-is..." He stutters. "WHERE'S CLOVE!?" I yell demandingly. I grab him by the collar of his shirt. "I-no-Ju-Just li-listen to-to m-me!"

"TELL ME! .CLOVE!?" I scream uncontrollably. "I-"He starts. "Cato!?" Someone calls. _Could it be-? _I whirl around to the direction of the forest. _There she was. Happy smiling Clove. She's still alive. She's still here, with me. _A wave of relief passes over me. I drop Marvel and he lands with a grunt. Clove runs towards me with a dead squirrel in her hand. _Hunting. She's been hunting. _I too, take a few steps forward. Then without knowing it, I laugh. I am so happy right now. _Knowing that we are both still alive. Knowing that she could still win. _Her smile widens as we fall into each other's arms. She wraps her small arms around my waist and I wrap my arms around her as well. _I know she is safe. She is safe in my arms. _"I thought you were dead Cato" She whispers. "No way. I'm never leaving you alone in this world." I automatically reply. She smiles into my shoulder. "Okay" She replies. "I won't either."

The fire burns brightly. We eat the cooked squirrel meat along with some nuts and fruit from the Cornucopia. I finish my share of the meat and throw the bones in the fire. I look at the group that was left. Marvel, Clove and I._Marvel has got to die soon. _I remind myself. I hear the song playing and we all look up to the sky. The seal of Panem shows. Glimmer's face shows and Marvel stifles a sob. Clove awkwardly pats him on the shoulder. "It's okay Marvel" She says "You'll be with her someday" _Yeah. _I silently agree. But I'll have to admit, Marvels grown on me. He's funny and like a little brother to me. _But he has to leave. It's day seven already. _I say. _Everyone has to. Even me. For Clove. _I think. _For Clove… _I drift off to sleep counting the numbers of days left until I have to die.

I wake abruptly, my forehead beaded with sweat. _Again. _I complain. _A nightmare again. _I toss and turn in my sleeping bag. Never getting comfortable. I turn to see who is on shift. _Clove. _She sits there, staring off into the distance, thinking. I find myself staring. She suddenly turns to me and stares into my eyes. "Couldn't sleep?" She sighs. "Yeah…" I admit. I sit up. "Neither." She sighs. "I told Marvel to sleep, and I take the shift. Not like I'm going to drift off anytime tonight." She laughs softly, looking into the fire. "Why?" I ask, my eyes sparkling with curiosity. She looks up at me. "Nightmares" She replies. "Every night" I nod in agreement. "But what are they about?" I say even more curiously. I sit next to her on the crates we had set up. She stares into my eyes. "Why? What are yours about?" She retorts. I look away and look up into the sky. It was dark and stars were shining brightly. The bright orange fire sparked. _How romantic… _I look back into her eyes. "They're about…" I start. _I shouldn't tell her!_ **_No! You have to! These are your last days Cato! She has to know how you feel! _**_But Dad said-_Cato! **_Do you love Clove or not? Do you want to die knowing that your love doesn't know how you feel? _**_But I can't do this! _She looks at me expectantly. "Well?" She presses. "I-uh…" I stutter. "Well, they're. Um-They're about-er-I-" I stammer. She blushes slightly. "Is it something embarrassing? You don't have to tell me." _She's too kind. _I take a deep breath. _It's now or never. _"All my nightmares are about losing you." I finish quickly. I am boiling. Literally. Or maybe I'm burning with shame? She studies my face carefully. Seeing if I'm telling the truth. _I cannot believe I just said that. What does Clove think? _I wonder. _What if she doesn't like me? What if she hates me? _My heartbeat quickens as she opens her mouth in reply. _Please don't say something bad… _"All my nightmares…are about losing you too Cato." She says quietly, looking at her shoes. _Wait-What? _She looks back up. We hold each other's gaze for a long time. Not wanting to look away. _My Dad is probably looking. He must be so angry. Kado…He must be so jealous right now. _My eyes search her eyes. Looking for signs of emotions. _She said she's scared of losing me too! Does that mean she feels the same way? If so, what do I do now? _My mind races. _What do I do?! Whoa. Is it just me? Or is Clove leaning in? _She is. Without knowing it I begin to lean in too. Slowly, steadily, we begin closing the gap in between us. _Is this it? _My heart pounds with excitement. _Are we really going to kiss? _I've been waiting for this since, forever. _We're going too slowly. Hurry up! _I couldn't wait. I knew I truly loved Clove. And I know she loves me too. We were meant to be together. We're made for each other. I feel no regrets as we got closer. She pauses when we are one inch apart. And I immediately close the gap. Our doubts and hesitation disappears from Cloves mind as she kisses me back passionately. Our kiss begins slowly and gently. It gets more rough and passionate as addiction flows through my veins. Our mouths move in sync. My hands go to her waist, pulling her closer, not wanting to let go, ever. I feel her arms around my neck, fingers slightly moving, playing with my blonde hair. I could never get enough of this kiss. The more I felt it, the more I wanted it. I break away slightly, a few centimetres, to get a short breath. I lean forward so that our foreheads were touching. She breathes quickly catching her breath. Our hands remain where they were. "Clove" I breathe. "I love you" Her grin falters and she pulls her arms away from my neck. She turns back to the fire. "Cato-I-I'm sorry" She begins, looking down at her hands. _What? _Before I can ask. She continues. Tears begin streaming down her face. It hurt me badly to see her cry. Tears drip on the ground as she finishes the sentence. "Cato, there can only be one winner. We're allies. That's all." She runs into the woods, leaving her words linger in my mind. I repeat her words in my head. _We're allies. That's all. _"NO!" I gasp, springing off my crate, running after her into the woods. I sprint for what seemed like hours. In fact, were only minutes. I stop when I realize she had hid somewhere. I knew she was close but it was too dark to see anything. "Clove!" I cry out desperately. I hear no sound. _I know she can hear me. _"Clove! Where are you?! Please! Come out! I know you can hear me!" I plead. Turning my head in all directions. I strain to hear noises but I don't hear anything. "Please!" I cry. _All the cameras must be trained on me. Capturing my every emotion and words. But I didn't care. I don't care if everyone knows my love for Clove. As long as she knows. _"Clove! Please! Come back! I love you!" I cry out into the darkness. _I could almost hear the gasps coming from the audience. _"Clove. I don't want to be just allies." I say. "I don't want to be just friends. Or just best friends…" I take a breath. And with no regrets, I finish my sentence. "I want to be with you forever." I hear a stifled sob somewhere in the night. I have tears in my eyes too. "Clove, so please…Come out" I cry. Still no answer. "Please! I'm begging you!" I cry louder this time, and I fall to my knees. I run my hands through my hair frustrated. "Please…Why are you doing this to me Clove? Why?" I sob. _We went through so much pain, jealousy, struggles and when I finally thought we could be together, we can't. _I stand up slowly and walk back to our camp. _Hoping she would come back later. _I had just made it out of the woods to the Cornucopia. When I heard the unmistakeable sound of a cannon. _CLOVE!_ A voice immediately screamed in my head. I sprint as fast as I could, back into the woods, the whole time, yelling at myself for leaving her alone. _If the cannon was Clove's, I would never forgive myself. _I continue sprinting when I suddenly run right into someone else. We hit each other hard and the breath was knocked out of my lungs. We both fall to the ground. I jump up and put my hand on my sword, just to realize I didn't have it. _Oh well, I can still beat anyone in a fistfight. _The other tribute moans. I recognize the voice. God, I would recognise her voice anywhere. "Clove!" I shout, picking her off the ground and squeezing her into a tight hug. "Cato?" She asks. I pull away from the hug, placing her feet back onto the ground. But I still kept my grip on her shoulders. She sees my face and relief floods over her face. She jumps up and wraps her arms around my neck. She buries her head into my shoulder. "I thought I'd lost you" She cries, her voice muffled by my shirt. I tighten my arms around her. "So did I" I whisper back. "Please, don't go" She nods furiously. _We had both understood, at that moment, how it felt to lose a beloved one. _"I love you Cato" She says. I smile broadly. "I love you too Clove. I always will." She pulls back, gives me a smile that lights up the whole arena. And we both lean in.

* * *

**Also check out my other Clato fanfics :) and check out 'Always Him' written by my friend angelamb12 :) **


	19. Day 1 as a couple

We walk back to our campsite, hands entwined, and smiling. _I had never felt so happy in my life. There was always this gap in my heart and now it was filled. _I didn't care if the world saw us together. I wouldn't care less if Dad was furious with me. I wouldn't care about all the girls back in District 2 were jealous. Including Cinder. I mean, who cares? The audience already knows about us anyway. So why not spend my last days together?

"Hey. Where did you guys go?" Marvel yawns as he crawls out of his sleeping bag. "Um…We went into the woods for a while." Clove says. "For what?" Marvel asks. Clove looks at me. "Nothing much." Marvel nods, obviously not believing us. He sits next to the fire on a grey crate. Then he stares at us and smirks. I look down and remember that our hands were still entwined. "Obviously for a heated make-out session" He teases. Still not letting go of Clove's hand, I sit down next to him, pulling Clove along. I shove him lightly. "So what?" I laugh. Obviously hinting that we were. He laughs back. But then he whispers in my ear. "Dude, are you sure of what you're doing? You know only one of you can win"

"Course I do. Just don't worry about it. I got it sorted." I reply. He nods. "Hey, you two can sleep now, you know. I got all the sleep I need." He informs us. "Okay. Thanks" I reply, nudging him slightly as a sign of thanks. "Hey, don't worry about it 'kay?" Marvel says coolly.I stand up straight and Clove stands up too. Oh, right. I nearly forgot, we were still holding hands. I pull her close to me, so our chests were touching. She grins as I lean in. We were standing behind the fire kissing. I was smiling the whole time. Her hands go to my hair, messing it up. And I hold her waist. Marvel turns around and his eyes widen. "Lovebirds" He mutters turning back to the fire. That makes me grin. Our kiss was gentle. But full of passion. I reach up with one hand to gently touch her face. We finally break away, I gasp for air.

"Well…I guess this is good night?" She says sadly. I look at our campsite. Her sleeping bag was exactly opposite of mine. So I pull it across the camp until it was next to mine. I pull her down to her sleeping bag, where she slips in and I slip into mine. We put our arms around each other and fall into the best sleep we had ever had.

The sun shines brightly when I open my eyes. I had the best night's sleep. No nightmares at all. I look to my right and see a small figure with her arms wrapped around my torso. I smile as yesterday's events come flooding back. I looked at Clove's small freckled face. She looked so cute. _But, of course, my girlfriend is also very hot. _I grin. _Girlfriend. _I could get used to that. I tap her on the nose playfully with a finger. She stifles a laugh. And opens her eyes. "Hey!" I exclaim mockingly. "You were awake the whole time!" She laughs. "You should really stop staring at me so much." I blush a deep shade of red. "I'm just joking!" She laughs, kissing me on the nose. My face breaks into a huge grin, showing my perfect set of teeth. "Yeah. Well, I am your boyfriend. So I should get all privileges of staring at you" I retort. "Hey! Who said you're my boyfriend?" She scowls. My grin drops. "But-I thought-?" I stammer. Clove laughs. "I'm just kidding! Of course you're my boyfriend! I love you more than anything in the world!" I laugh, as she pulls me in for a long lingering kiss. "That's a better 'good morning'" I say. "I could do with that every day." That makes Clove laugh. "I love you" She says. "Why did you suddenly say that?" I ask her. "Because you're you." She answers simply. "What?" I ask clearly confused. "I love you just the way you are. You're funny, kind, smart-"

"Not to mention, totally hot, sexy and cute" I interrupt. She laughs. "Yep. Those too"

"You do realise how lucky you are?" I say, pulling her close. "That I fell for you instead of the other popular girls back in 2?" Clove laughs. "I think you're the lucky one" _I know. _I smile and pull her in for another kiss. But before our lips could touch, she sits up abruptly and says. "Okay! Let's get up now!" I groan. "You don't deserve a kiss." She says. "Yeah I do." I say, sitting up and crushing her lips on mine. "I can do whatever I want, whenever I want" I say once we break away. She smirks. "We'll see about that"


	20. Tokens of Love

I watch Clove walk into the Cornucopia. _This is gonna be a good day, _I crawl out of my sleeping bag and stumble into the Cornucopia. Marvel and Clove are packing up some backpacks with water and food. I slip my red jacket on and join them. Clove and Marvel were talking. I go up behind Clove and wrap my arms around her waist. I put my chin on her shoulders. "Hey babe. Missed you." I murmur into her ear. She laughs, twisting around in my arms and faces me. "It's only been two minutes" She laughs. "Still" I mumble, leaning in. She clamps her hand over my mouth. "Not now" She whispers. My face drops. "Okay" I say sadly. She laughs at my act and I can't help but notice how cute she is when she laughs. My mind drifts off to two years ago. _She was 13. And my best friend. 15…That was when I started to notice how attracting she was. Reaping…That was when I realised what I felt for her. _"Cato!" Clove's voice snaps me back into reality. "Huh-What?" I stammer. She waves her hand in front of my face. "Seriously? Earth to Cato. What are you even thinking about?" She laughs. "You" I reply immediately. She blushes. "Aww… How sweet…"

"Yeah. So how about a kiss?" I say, winking at her flirtatiously. She shakes her head. "Don't even think about it." I put on a sad face. I was just about to retort when Marvel suddenly yells my name. "What?" I exclaim, annoyed. I walk out of the Cornucopia, Clove trailing behind me. Marvel is holding a kid by the scruff of his jacket. The boy looks frightened when I glare at him. "Cato, this kid came up to me and asked to join the Careers"

"WHAT!?" I exclaim. "What can he do?" I scoff, looking him up and down. He was short, and weak. "Should I kill him now?" Marvel asks hopefully, directing the point of his spear to the boy's neck. The boy yelps at contact. "Please! No don't kill me! I can help! I swear! I can help you!" He begs. "Cato…The boy's from three. Technology" Clove whispers. I nod. "How?" I ask the boy. "I-I can help you reset the mines!" He blurts. "What!?" We all exclaim. "The mines." He repeats. "You know, the ones next to the platforms that blow you sky high if you step off?" I nod for him to continue. "Yeah, I was taught this kind of thing back in my District. I can dig them up, reset it-"

"-And how would that help?" Marvel interrupts. "I was thinking, you could pile up the supplies that you have, and I reset the mines around it. Whoever steps on a mine would be blown up." I nod approvingly. _It is a good idea. _I turn to Clove and she seems to be thinking the same thing. "But that would set off a chain reaction wouldn't it?" Marvel suddenly says. "N-No!" He stutters. "It w-won't h-happen!" He promises. Marvel looks at me questioningly. "Release him" I order. Marvel obediently lets go of the boy's collar. The boy straightens his shirt. "What's your name?" I ask. "Ian"

"Very well, Ian. When are you going to build those mines?"

"If possible, now." I raise my eyebrows impressed. "But we have to build up the pyramid first." He adds. "Okay. We'll get started now" I say.

I lift up the silver case and bring it across to the growing pyramid. _This case is heavy. _I huff and set it down on the bottom of the pyramid. "There! We finished!" Marvel yells triumphantly. I push the boy-Ian, towards the pyramid. "We built it. Now get it over and done with." I growl. "Y-Yes" He stammers. "If you do a good job. I might just consider letting you go." I promise. He nods nervously. I laugh at his response. He runs over to the pedestals and begins to dig. I turn around and Clove is behind me. I slip one arm around her waist, pulling her closer to me. "Now…Where were we?" I purr. She looks up at me. "We were packing backpacks up, for tribute hunting" She replies innocently. She places one hand on my arm, and pulls it away from her waist. She gives me one final smirk and begins walking away. "Awwww…Clove…" I whine. I take a few quick steps, so I was next to her and walk side by side with her. She heads towards the Cornucopia. "Clo-ove..." I keep whinging. "Stop being such a baby and get over it!" She says, barely looking at me. "Okay" I say, straightening up. "Whatever you say babe" I finish with a wink. She rolls her eyes and picks up a backpack. She throws another black bag to me. I watch it fly through the air and I see a flash of silver on Cloves wrist as she throws it. The bag drops to the ground at my feet. Clove turns around when she hears the pack hitting the ground, and laughs. "You seriously couldn't catch that?" She teases. I frown slightly and walk to her side. "What?" She questions. I encircle her wrist with my huge hands and lift it up to my face. "What's that?" I smirk. Gesturing to the familiar silver bracelet on her wrist. She pulls her hand out of my grasp and traces her fingers around the intricate carvings of little knives. "District token" She replies. "Must mean A LOT to you" I say. Now it's her turn to smirk. "Yes…" She starts. "It was from my…" She pauses. "…best friend" I swing my arms around her waist and turn her to face me. "But why…Would you bring a gift, from JUST a best friend. Not from someone…Let's say…A boyfriend?" I whisper, half smiling. She smiles back. "Because…" She holds up her wrist in between us. "This means a lot to me..." Our foreheads were touching and we were gently swaying back and forth. "Why?" I ask softly. She stares deep into my eyes and wraps her arms around my neck. "Because. I had…Developed _feelings _for my best friend" She admits. "And how would you have felt…If he had fallen for you too?" I breathe. "I already know" She whispers. I chuckle ever so softly and take one of my hands off her waist. My hand goes down the front of my shirt, grasping around until I catch hold of something cold. I take it out from under my shirt and show Clove the charm at the end of the chain. She looks at it for a split second and looks back at me, eyes sparkling. "You brought that?" She whispers. "Yeah." I say, not taking my eyes off her. "But not because it means a lot to me…" Confusion swirls in her eyes. I smile "…But because it means the _world _to me"

"When you broke up with Cinder…" She starts. I nod. Encouraging her to go on. "You… listed some things that you wanted your girlfriend to be…" Her fingers make swirling patterns at the back of my neck. "…Were you talking about-"

"Yes. I was talking about you. By that time, I already had fallen for you. Just that I didn't know how you felt…" I admit. "But now you know" She smiles. "For sure. I know that I love you more than anything in the world." I say, before we both decided to close the gap.


	21. Back in time

_I look at the bracelet in my hand. It's perfect. I hand the cashier the money and walk out of the marketplace, looking at the bracelet. She'll love this. I think to myself. I walk up the hill to where, sure enough, Clove was. "Hey" she says. "Hey" I reply, flashing her a grin. "Nice day isn't it?" I say. "Yeah. Not like the last few weeks" We laugh at the memory. We were both soaking from the downpour. Clove and I have been coming for a few years now. We've really bonded and are really close friends. It sometimes feels like she's the only one who understands me. Remembering the bracelet in my pocket, I take it out. "Hey, I..Um… got you this." I say, holding out the bracelet. "Really? Thanks" she smiles. She takes the bracelet in her hands, looking at the small detailed charms that hung from the silver band. They were small knives. "That is perfect. Thank you so much Cato!" She cries. "I got you something too!" She exclaims excitedly. She holds out a simple silver chain that had two silver swords crossed at the end. "Wow…That is…Perfect as well" I say. I take the chain and pull it over my head. The cold metal touches my skin. "Thank you" I say. Clove slips on the bracelet. "Thanks to you too!" She grins. We chat. "Are you going to volunteer for the Games?" She asked. I shake my head. "Neither." She says. "I never will" I say. _

_We begin to walk home as the sun sets. We walk along the streets when a girl suddenly rushes up to me. She had blonde hair and was wearing a strapless party dress. "Cinder?" I ask? "Cato…!" She stops when she sees Clove. "Uh…Maybe you should leave. See you tomorrow at training." I whisper. She nods and leaves. "Cato! Do you love me anymore?!" She cries. "Why would you ask me that?" I confusedly asked. "Cato. It's my birthday today! And you didn't show up!" _

_"Oops sorry." I mumble. "And instead, you go and hang out with that-that shy, unpopular…RETARD!" She screeches. I feel anger burning up. "EVER SINCE SHE SHOWED UP. YOU NEVER GO ON DATES WITH ME ON SATURDAY!" She continues to yell. She suddenly glares at my neck. "WHAT IS THAT!?" She hisses. I look down at my chain. "None of your business" I snap at her. "Don't talk to me in that way Cato. I am your girlfriend and I think I should know if you are spending your time with another girl!" She yells. "WELL. NOT ANYMORE 'CAUSE I AM OFFICIALLY DUMPING YOU!" I yell back at her. The colors drain from her face. "What?" she asks. Her voice is faint. "You heard me! I am dumping you!" I say and storm off. "NO! Wait Cato! Please no! I love you! Please. I take it back!" She cries, flinging herself to my arm. "Go to hell" I growl. I shake her off and storm back to my house. I turn and take the shortcut, through the alley. I see Clove leaning against the wall waiting. "Clove? I ask. "Cato!" She exclaims in relief. "What happened? What was Cinder saying?" She asks. "I dumped her" I say softly. "What? Why? You and she were a great couple!" Clove says her eyes full of concern. I shrug. "I just, didn't have feelings for her. She's…Not really my type." _

_"Cato…" Clove whispers worriedly. "Don't worry! I'm fine." I tell her. Then she smiles at me mischievously. "Then what IS your type?" She asks jokingly. "I don't know..." I shrug. "She's just too girly for me. Like, she doesn't like doing what I like to do, I like doing rough stuff. Like climbing trees, wrestling…I want a girl that…Has the same interests as me." I finish. She nods. "You'll find the right girl someday." She reassures. If only she knew who I as talking about…"I'll see you tomorrow at the Reaping" I whisper as I hug her. She hugs me back. "Okay" She whispers. _


	22. Underwater

"Would you two just get a room?!" We pull away, panting for air. And both stare at Marvel. He was rolling his eyes. "I'm serious" He scoffs. "So inappropriate guys" He jokes. I turn back to Clove. And we both break into huge grins. Before we knew it. We were all laughing. We untangle ourselves from each other. I straighten my scruffily shirt. Clove's lips were redder than before and slightly swollen. I laugh to myself. "Ian said he finished" Marvel says walking a few steps closer. "Hey, nice necklace" He exclaims, pointing to the chain around my neck. It just reaches above my stomach-or abs. "Thanks, I-uh, got it from-"

"Clove. No doubt." Marvel says smartly. "Or else why would you bring it?"

"Yeah..Its from Clove. So?" I say. "Nothing. Now, c'mon, Ian's finished his job." Marvel ushers. "Yeah..Coming.." I groan. As we walked out of the Cornucopia, I nudged Clove lightly, saying, "It's all your fault" She shoots a confused look at me. "What? How is it MY fault?"

"For being so irresistible." I laugh. She laughs, "Well, its not my fault God made me so hot" She exclaims in a posh accent. "And it's not my fault that we were destined to be the hottest couple on Earth" I laugh. "Ha-ha. Very funny" Marvel says sarcastically. He storms over and grabs my arm, before yanking me away from Clove. Once we're out of earshot, he whispers. "Look man, we are in THE HUNGER GAMES. Okay? One victor. And in the Career group. You're the leader. I can't have you all mushy and romantic when we're trying to actually survive okay? The least I need right now is you making out with your girlfriend during a fight or something!" I nod. "Yeah. Got it. I promise I won't make out with Clove during a fight or something." I say, in my serious, leader voice. For a second, Marvel looks relieved. "...I'll just make out with her, all the other times." I laugh. He socks me in the arm and runs back to camp before muttering, "Lovesick." I laugh crazily as a response.

I walk back to camp. "I'm bored" I announce. "Then what do you want to do?!" Marvel asks, annoyed. "I don't know." I say, winking at Clove. She snickers and Marvel groans. We sit under the shades we had set up and eat some dried fruit. Marvel's eyes suddenly widen. "Hey! Look! Over there!" He exclaims. Pointing with his spear at a column of smoke rising from the tree tops. "You stay here and guard!" I order Ian. He nods and us three run off into the woods. We get there and we see a burning bush which smoked like crazy. But we saw no one. "This could be a trap!" Clove says. "Hurry! Back to camp!" I yell. We run back out the woods when a deafening blast shakes the ground. It sounded like an explosion. "THE MINES!" Clove and I screamed. We ran to what used to be our camp. It was now a smouldering pile of black smoke. Clove and Marvel stared helplessly at the smoking pile. I am furious. "WHAT HAPPENED!?" I roared at Ian. "WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?" He stepped backwards stuttering words. I grabbed his neck and snapped it, his limp body drops to the ground and his cannon goes off. I continue screaming and shouting. I curse whoever did this and I violently punch the ground. I grab broken cases and throw them at the ground, breaking them even more. I kick at the burnt crates. I scream and tug violently at my hair. Marvel tries to stop me but I shove him away. I am raging. A small part of my brain is still functional and it's thinking. I can't control myself, I lunge at Marvel, pinning him to the ground, ready to end his life. Someone wrestles me to the ground, and I struggle under the grasp of Clove. I stare at her with bloodshot, crazed eyes. "Let me go" I say through gritted teeth. She sits on my stomach, her feet on my arms. "Let me go!" I yell louder. I didn't want to hurt her. I hope I don't. I am getting angrier each second. Clove immediately leans down and kisses me full on the mouth. Anger flowing through my body is replaced by addiction. She has her palms on my chest. And her feet are releasing my arms. I sit up a bit, one arm propping me up and the other holding her face. She slides one hand up to my neck. We kissed for like, minutes. I enjoyed every second. "Okay, that's enough" A gruff voice says. Clove is suddenly yanked off me. My eyes shoot open. Marvel crosses his arms looking at me. I get off the ground. Marvel raises one eyebrow at me. "What did I say about making out?"

"Whatever. And Clove only did that to calm me down." I say, grinning at Clove. She flashes me a cute smile back. Marvel sighs. "I'm going to check my traps. Since we don't have much food left."

"Yeah. You go do that." I say. He walks off. I quickly sidle up to Clove. "Resume" I say with a smirk.

The sound of cannon interrupts our heated make-out session. "Who do you think that was?" Clove asks. I shrug. I lean in again for another kiss when we hear another cannon shot. "Again?" Clove whispers. "Who cares?" I say, I try again, leaning in. "Cato" Clove says firmly. "Maybe we SHOULD do something besides making out." I raise my eyebrows flirtily. "Like what?" I purr. "Like, think about how we are going to survive with all our supplies blown up!" She says as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Aww…Clove. Don't be so boring" She looks angry. "Cato! This is a matter between life and death!"

"I know! Let's go fishing!" I say. She looks at me dumbfounded. "Oh. Sorry. I forgot-"

"No, it's okay. You can fish, I'll sit and watch." She says. I lean away and we grab whatever backpacks we had left. There were only two. They had some dried fruit, crackers and strips of beef. It wouldn't last long. I head towards the lake, when someone jumps onto my back. Clove giggles and I laugh. I hold her legs and I run to the lake. I put her down onto the big flat rocks and I peel off my shirt. I dive into the lake, flinching a bit at the cold. _Okay, now, how am I going to catch the fish? _I ask myself. I look at Clove, flipping my hair. "How do I catch them?!" I yell. "Ha! Nice work Genius!" She calls out. "I thought you knew!" I shake my head. Suddenly, I am yanked down. _What the-?_ I sink lower and I frantically kick and wave my arms. Something was holding onto my ankle. It hurt. I kick my feet and push at the water. I burst out of the water, gasping for air and making lots of splashes before I am yanked back down. "Help!" I manage to gurgle. "Cato!?" I hear Clove scream. I get pulled down even more and I am losing oxygen. I kick my way up to the surface. I can see more clearly what is on my leg now. It's a fish. It looks so weird. It had unusually sharp fangs, red and blue scales and huge eyes. That's when it hit me. _It's a Capitol-made Mutt! This could kill me! _I start thrashing around, and the fish tightens it's teeth around my ankle. I yell out in pain. Blood seeped through the water and the mutt was getting excited at the smell of blood. I feel drowsy. Lack of oxygen and blood loss. _I'm going to die. No! No I'm not! I can't die! I can't leave Clove behind! _I punch the fish, but the water slows down my movements. The mutt drags me under again and no matter how hard I kick, the fish won't let go. I need air. I need to breathe. _This is it. I'm going to die. I'm sorry Clove. I have to leave. _I see out of the corner of my eye, a dark shape appearing. _More mutts. _I hear a rip and then the pain on my ankle releases. I look and see the mutt sinking with a large gaping hole in its side. I kick at the water with my good leg and burst out of the water, panting and gasping for air. _What was that dark shape? _I hear a splash and Clove's wet face popped out of the water. "Clove?" I say. "Cato! You're alive!" She cries, embracing me. "Clove-What are you doing here?" I stammer. "Y-You said you couldn't swim!"

"I don't know. You were going to die. I couldn't live without you. So I just-jumped in and killed the mutt." She stutters, confused about her actions as well. "You overcame your fear, for me?" I ask softly. She nods. "Let's go back to shore first." She suggests. We swim back to the shore. "Ow." I wince, when my ankle scrapes along the shore. "That might be an infection." Clove says worriedly. Clove wraps some fabric over the wound after cleaning it up. I smile at her. "Thanks babe."

"Cato, aren't you worried?" She asks. Before I can ask 'Why?' She says, "Because only one of us can win?" I touch her face gently. "And that person is going to be you." I say softly. "What? Why!?" She says. "Clove, that's the reason why I volunteered. I was planning for you to win the whole time" I whisper in her ear. "Cato. No! You can't do that! I'll rather die than not be with you!" She cries. "Clove, you have to. Promise me, after I die, stay strong. Live your life. Find another boy who loves you and live happily for the rest of your life."

"No!" She cries, tears sliding down her cheeks. Tears are forming in my eyes too. But I force them away. "Cato I can't live without you. I won't ever find someone else like you. I love you and you only!" She says. "I know." I say, my throat goes dry. "I love you too. But you have to win."

"No! Cato please no!"

"Clove. this is what I want!" I say, raising my voice. "I want you to win!"

"Cato, don't. Don't-"I lean in again and kiss her gently. "I love you Clove. And I want the best for you." I breathe. She shakes her head. I wipe the tears from her eyes. "Why did we both have to come in? Why is our love doomed? Why will we never get the chance to be together happily?" She asks rhetorically. "I-"I am cut off by an announcement, booming over the entire arena. The voice of Claudius Templesmith begins to talk. "Attention all tributes. There has been a slight rule change. The rule of allowing one victor has been changed. Now two tributes may be crowned victors. If they both originate from the same district. I repeat, two tributes may win." I look at Clove. "Two tributes can win…" I repeat. "…If they are from the same District." Clove finishes. Realisation sinks in. "We can both win!" I exclaim. "We can go home!" Clove's face breaks into a huge smile. I laugh. "We can win!" I grab her face in my hands. "We can win this!" Clove says. "Together." I smile. Clove leans in and kisses me. "Yes. We can go home, together." She agrees.


	23. Don't go

That night, we see the fallen tributes. The first face to appear was Marvel. Clove gasps. I put an arm around her comfortingly. "It's fine Clove, he's with Glimmer now. They've reunited. He's in a better place." I soothe. She nods. I have a lump in my throat. _Goodbye Marvel. _He was like a brother to me. Anger blazes through me. _Why? Why did they have to force us into these sick games? _"Cato?" Clove's voice snaps me back into reality. "Hu-What?" I mumble. "Rue, District 11. She's gone."

"The two cannons. Must've been for Marvel and Rue." I say. "And they were close together, I think Marvel killed Rue and someone killed Marvel." She guesses. "You are so smart." I smile. Clove sleeps while I take the first shift. She snuggles under my arm and closes her eyes. I look at her. She looks breathtakingly beautiful under the bright full moon. _We can win. _My heart leaps when I remind myself that we can have a future together. I couldn't wait to be crowned victor with Clove. We would live in the VictorsVillage together! I smile and brush a strand of hair away from her eyes. "Love you." I whisper.

We woke up early in the morning. "The other tributes left are Fire girl, Lover boy, Finch (District 5) and us." Clove says. "Okay." I say, ruffling my hair. "Loverboy should be dead by now, I cut him across the thigh. But he isn't and, because of the rule change, I reckon Everdeen is nursing him back to health."

"Do you think they're a threat?" Clove asks. I shrug. "We don't even know what Firegirl is good at. I think Thresh is a bigger threat." I say. "I think we should go after Katniss and Peeta first." Clove insists. "No, Thresh. Katniss will be to busy fixing Loverboy up." I argue. "But we have no idea where Thresh is. We know District twelve will be hiding up a tree or something!" She says. "I-" I start, when the voice of Claudius booms over the arena again. "Tributes, attention. We have agreed to be, generous hosts, so we are inviting you to a feast at dawn. There will be a bag there, with something that each of you need desperately. Think twice about this, this could be your last chance."

"Well, that solve the problem, we go to the feast and kill whoever else is there." Clove says simply. I smile maliciously at her. I stand up and suddenly fall back down. "Cato!" Clove cries urgently. "My ankle…" I grit my teeth. "That's what is in the bag!" Clove exclaims. "I'll go to the feast."

"No! I have to go with you!" I say straightening up and grabbing her arm. "Cato, you can't! You have to rest!"

"Well then, at least let me stay in the woods and watch." I urge. "Okay, okay…" She sighs. I limp through the woods until we come into view of the Cornucopia. "Okay, I'll be fine. You stay here." Clove says. "Be back soon." I say. "I love you."

"Love you too." Clove turns and looks at the Cornucopia. Her eyes scan the area. Finally, a hovercraft appears and places four silver bags marked with the district numbers, 2, 5, 11, and 12. Before I know it, someone with red hair runs out of the Cornucopia and grabs the bag marked '5'. Before disappearing into the woods opposite us. "She's smart." Clove says. "Yeah, she was hiding in the Cornucopia the whole time."

"Clove?"

"Yeah?"

"We could win today." She smiles. "You go out and get the medicine, kill Katniss, Loverboy dies without Katniss, I get the medicine, we both take on Thresh and we go look for Finch. We could win today." I say. She smiles again. "That sounds like a good plan."

"Are you kidding me!? That's a perfect plan!" I laugh. "Katniss! She's there!" Clove suddenly says. "Love you!" I call out as she runs towards Katniss. _Clove can kill her. Yes she can. _I watch as Clove wrestles Katniss onto the ground and completely pins her down. _Haha...Goodbye Girl on Fire. _An electronic beeping draws my attention away from them. I see a silver parachute hooked onto a branch. I draw my sword and slash at the parachute. It drops into my hands and I open it. Inside was a small fuzzy leathery box and a card.

Time to freak the audience-BS

What is he talking about? I open the small box and I immediately realise what he meant. I stare at the content inside the box, considering what I should do. I mean, I'm only 18. A loud scream interrupts my thoughts. A scream that makes my heart stop. "CATO!"

"Clove!?" I shout. I shove the box into my left pocket and limp towards the Cornucopia as fast as I can.

* * *

**a couple of chapters left :D Who's excited! **

**Then i'll be posting the alternate ending where they both win ! :D **

**Review !**

**What do you think is in the box? **


	24. Times up

"CATO!" She continues to scream. "Clove!" I yell. I move as fast as I possibly can. When I get to the clearing, I see a furious Thresh drop a limp Clove to the ground and run off with two backpacks while Firegirl scrambles away with a cut on her forehead. "Clove!" I scream again. I hobble as fast as I can and collapse right next to her limp body. "Clove!" I cry in panic. She turns her head slowly to look at me. "Cato..." She whispers inaudibly. I hold her close, one hand at the back of her head and I feel warm blood trickling down my arm. "Clove..." I whisper, tears beginning to form. I realise that her injury is futile. She can't be saved. My love, my life. She is going to leave me. "Clove, don't go. Please. Stay with me...!" I beg. "Cato-I'm sorry." She says in pain. Her breathing is ragged and I know she won't be with me for much longer. "Clove. Don't go. We have to win. Together." I say, a tear finally escaping my eye and dropping onto her cheek. She shakes her head weakly. "I'm sorry...I can't stay. You-You have to win. Win for me Cato." She breathes. I nod. "I will. I promise" I promise. "Stay with me Cato." She whispers, a tear sliding down the side of her face. "I will. I always will be with you. Forever." I whisper back, smiling sadly. One hand reaches into my pocket and I pull it out. I free both of my hands and put her head onto my lap. I sniffle and say, "Clove, I love you more than anything in the world and I always will. No matter what happens, where we are or when, I will always love you. So-"I open the box, revealing a sparkling silver ring with a shining blue diamond sitting comfortably on a plush velvet bed. "Clove Veronica Sevina, will you marry me? I love you and I want you to be mine and me to be yours forever and ever, till the end of time." Tears stream down her face and she nods. "Yes," She manages a smile. I smile and blink a tear out of my eye. "Good." I choke out. I carefully take the ring out of the box and slide it onto her finger. I become aware that Clove was breathing heavier and her eyes were losing the bright spark. I lean down and kiss her gently on her cold, pale lips. I pull away and tears fall onto the ground. "I-I love you Cato..." She whispers, the sentence slowly fading away towards the end. Her eyes slowly close. I stifle a sob and choke out, "I-I love you too. Clove...Till eternity." Her cannon sounds and I close my eyes and allow several tears to slip away. "Goodbye Clove." I whisper. I look at her lifeless body and I begin to sob. My body starts shaking uncontrollably. I hug her to my chest tightly. "Clove...!" I cry. I hold her in my arms. "Clove. I love you!" I cry. _Why!? Why did we have to come into theses games?! Why did Clove have to leave when we could've both won?! _"Clove..." I find myself whispering her name over and over again. I hold her hand and my fingers move to her bracelet. I remember first meeting her, first kissing her. I would never get to kiss her anymore. Never be able to hear her say the words 'I love you.' Never be able to tell her again how much I loved her. "I'll miss you Clove." I whisper, my tears wetting her pale face. "I won't ever forget you." I hold up her hand, and look at her ring. The diamond was blue, like my eyes. She would take this with her, to the hovercraft, and back to District 2. I knew the hovercraft would be coming soon. "I will win for you." I whisper, as I watch from a distance, the hovercraft pick her up and zoom away. I pull the necklace out of my shirt and press the blade of the tiny sword onto my lips. "I promise."

* * *

**Okay, i admit it. i cried when i wrote this-nearly. nearly cried. But dont worry peoples! after this story ends, i'll post the alternate ending ! then after the AU there will be a catching fire, version CLATO ! :D **


	25. The Finale

I trudge through the forest, missing the sound of Clove's boots next to mine, missing the feeling of her hand intertwined in mine, missing her voice and her laughter. Missing her whole person. Missing everything about her. Thresh ran off with our bag too. I swore to avenge Clove's death. I would kill Thresh. I limp for endless hours. The sky turns dark and I make camp in a hidden spot. I make myself comfortable and eat some dried fruit and beef strips. I stare off into the darkness as memories of Clove flood into my brain. The harder I try to forget, the more I think about it. It has crossed my mind once, _What's the point of winning? What's left for me back at District 2? Money, fame? I don't want those things. I don't want to go back to District 2 if Clove isn't going to be there. I'll never be happy again. I won't ever find another girl. Why should I win?_

But I shake that thought out of my head. I think about the tributes left. Thresh. I am going to kill him and I will make it painful. Katniss? I envy her right now. She's with her boyfriend. Happy and healthy. Me? I have nothing left. I wipe the tears away. The anthem plays and Clove's face is in the sky, I shut my eyes, not wanting to see her and bring back painful memories again. _Tomorrow, I will find Thresh tomorrow. _

I wake in the middle of the night. I turn my head to the side and I see Clove. "Clove." I whisper. She looks up at me, eyes shining in the moonlight. "I love you Cato." She says. "So do I. I miss you Clove. I missed you so much." I reply, as I lean down to kiss her.

I hit the ground and I spit sand out of my mouth. I sit up and turn my head side to side. "Clove?" I murmur confusedly. I sigh. _It was a dream. _I get off the ground and pack all my remaining stuff into a small backpack. I walk and find that my ankle throbs painfully. _It's getting worse. _I huff. As I'm walking, a cannon booms over the arena. _Who's that? _I wonder. I sure hope it's not Thresh. Because I want to kill him personally. I hear some birds chirping and I look up to see a hovercraft appearing. It stops several metres away from where I am, and I can just make out a body with red hair going into the hovercraft over the treetops. _Must be Finch. _I think. I don't know how long I've been walking, but I finally came across some grass that has been flattened. I bend down and examine it. The figure was pretty large and I assume it must've been Thresh. I keep walking until I hear some scuffling noises. I quicken my pace but walk quietly as I approach the noise. It seems to be coming from a small cave. I walk closer and I see Thresh eating some nuts at the clearing of his hideout. I unsheathe my sword and walk into his view. He sees me and he grabs his large sickle. I smile wickedly. "Oh, you think you can beat me, Eleven? I've been trained my whole life. Just give it up. Why bother trying?" I tease. "I won't give up." He growls in a low voice. "Neither will I." I say, my tone turning serious. "You killed Clove."

"So what? She's just a District partner. She doesn't mean anything to you. You would've killed her anyway. Just so you get all the pride." That comment really ticks me off. _I would never kill Clove. _

"She wasn't just a District partner. She was my best friend and my girlfriend. We had everything planned out and you had to ruin it!" I say, raising my voice. Just then, a clap of thunder was heard. "Let's end this now, big boy." He growls. I lunge at him, slashing my sword out, it connects with his arm and he lets out a sound of surprise. But he blocks the sword with his sickle and I step back. His arm is bleeding quite badly. He goes for me this time, but I'm ready. I dodge his attack and slash at his torso. He yells and stumbles back. The cut wasn't very deep but enough to make him weak. I free him of his weapon and kick it away. Then I slam my boot onto his chest, causing him to fall backwards, holding his wound and groaning. I raise my sword high into the air. "Goodbye Eleven." I say, ready to end his life. He closes his eyes. I swing the sword when suddenly, I hear a howl. I jerk my head to the right and see a huge creature leaping out at me with a growl. I barely have time to scream before I am tackled to the ground. The creature that looks like a dog/bear, growls at me, teeth baring. My eyes widen and my natural instinct is to kill it. So I do. I plunge the blade up into its stomach and twist it. The mutant lets out and eerie howl before going limp. I kick it off me and stand back up. Thresh looks at me. He is turning pale. I take a step towards him before I am interrupted by another howl. Four more huge shapes lunge out. I am suddenly attacked by two mutants. I yell out in pain as they claw and scratch at me. I receive three claw marks on my right cheek and a huge gash on my forehead. God, they had sharp claws. I take down one of them. The other lashes out at me and I duck it's claws and slash my sword onto it's neck. It growls and falls to the ground, grunting and twitching. I stab it in the heart, to make sure and turn to where Thresh was. Two large dogs were snapping at him and he was yelling in pain. He had nothing to defend himself. The cannon blasts and the dogs turned to face me, eyes glinting in hunger. I swore under my breath before turning around and sprinted for my life. Out of the mess in my brain, I got one clear thought. _Cornucopia. _I turned left and ran until I saw the metal horn. Panting, I climbed up the giant metal structure. I collapsed on top of it, gasping. I felt like I was going to die. I heard noises and saw two figures climbing the Cornucopia as well. _Katniss and Peeta. _"C-Can they climb it?" I gasp out. "What?" Katniss asks, dumbfounded. "He said, 'Can they climb it?'" Peeta points out. I nod. I peer over the edge. The dumb mutts were desperately padding at the side of the horn uselessly. I regain my breathing while they try to get rid of the mutts. I make my way across to them. _It's time to end this. _I grab Peeta and throw him to the other side of the Cornucopia, hoping he would slip off but he doesn't. Katniss whips around to face me. I wrestle her to the floor. My hands were around her neck and I pushed her head to the mutts, at the same time strangling her. She gasps for oxygen and claws at my hands desperately. A trickle of blood rolls down my forehead. I push her down lower and the mutts snap at her hair. Suddenly, I am hurled over to the right side of the horn by Peeta. Peeta lunges at me as Katniss tries to breathe again. I wrestle Peeta and of course, I win. But we come to a stalemate. I have Peeta in a headlock and Katniss is directing her bow and arrow at me. We all know that she can't kill me without losing Peeta as well. "Go on, shoot." I splutter out through the blood. "Then we both go down and you win." I smirk. Peeta gasps for breath. I tighten my arms around his neck. "I could still do it you know, one last kill." I smirk. "It's all I know how to do. Bring pride to my District. Is this what they want?" I say raising my voice and staring into the sky. _I was angry at the Capitol. At Snow. _"Is this what they want? Huh?" I ask. Turning back to face Katniss. "Huh?" I ask. She is still in shooting position. "I lost my true love." I whisper inaudibly. "They took her away." Tears slip out of my eyes. Either way, I am going to lose. I could kill Peeta. Take away her true love. I tighten my grip on Peeta. With one snap, I could kill him. I feel Peeta tap lightly on my hand. _She's going to hit my hand. I should kill Peeta now. _The arrow flies through the air and a sharp pain sears my hand. I yell and release my grip on Peeta. He whips around and shoulder checks me off the Cornucopia. I fall over the edge, head first. I hit the ground and the wind is knocked out of me. I gasp out before the dogs swarm around me, growling greedily. They tear at my legs and arms and I try to fight them off with my sword. One of the large dogs rip at my arm and manages to take my sword away. I punch and kick but just make them angrier. The pain was unbearable. Every inch of my body was hurting. I was covered in blood. Bloody, brutal Cato. That's what they call me. I am helpless, loveless Cato. _Just kill me already! _I scream as a new wave of pain washes over my leg. _I'm sorry Clove. I can't win. I broke my promise. I'm sorry. _I cry as the dogs rip away my clothing and destroy my limbs. I suddenly saw Clove. "Clove..." I whimper. "I'm sorry." She looks at me from the skies. She spreads her arms out as if saying, _Come to me Cato, come here. _I make a strangled cry. _I want to. I want to die now! Why are they torturing me?! _I see Katniss looking at me from the lip of the Cornucopia. "Please! Just kill me already!" I yell, but it comes out really quiet. "Please...!" I whimper. As if a miracle, she raises her bow. "Please..." I mouth finally. I look back into the dark sky. _Wait for me Clove... _The arrow whistles through the air. _...I'm coming. _

**FINISH**

* * *

**Epilogue tomorrow! xD. I know, I love epilogues. **


	26. Epilogue !

**Epilogue**

_Clove asked me a question. She had said. 'Am I pretty?' I stare into her sparkling brown eyes. 'No.' I had replied. 'Do you want me to be with me forever?' I look at her, 'No.' _

_'Would you cry if I left you now?' She asks finally. 'No.' I had answered without hesitation. She looks at me. Then without speaking, she turned and began to leave. I had grabbed her wrist and stopped her. 'Clove, you're not pretty, you are the most gorgeous girl I have ever seen and you are perfect. I don't _want _you to be with me forever, I _need _you to be with me forever. And if you left me, I wouldn't _cry...' _I look at her. '…I _would_ die.'_ _I finished. She had thrown her arms around me. 'I love you.' She whispered. I smile. 'I will always love you, forever.' I take her hand and I immediately know that I didn't make the wrong choice when I volunteered. I volunteered for Clove. I don't regret volunteering. I never did and I never would. So even here, even if we're burning in hell, I still have No Regrets._

* * *

**_And finally FINISHED ! :D _**

**_Alternate ending uploading soon ! _**

**_Peace out !_**

**_~SomethingWeAsiansGot_**


End file.
